


But I Can't Do It Alone

by the_nvisiblegirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Unplanned Pregnancy, pregnant!regina
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-02 12:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 36,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2811824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_nvisiblegirl/pseuds/the_nvisiblegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I... I’m pregnant,” Regina whispered eventually, and at first Emma thought she was just making stuff up in her head now. But she wasn’t, she realized after a beat, and couldn’t help her jaw automatically almost hitting the floor. She did not exactly know what she had expected when she had found Regina at her doorstep, but certainly not this. Regina and Robin hadn’t even been a thing for a month, at least as far as Emma knew.<br/>She just couldn’t believe that Regina I’m the biggest control freak ever Mills had let herself get knocked up by some random – and more importantly married – dude who, to top it all off, smelled like fucking forest. Emma wanted to punch a goddamn puppy. For some reason she had hated that guy from the moment they had first met. Because he was a moron, a cheater, and constantly looked like he had to take a big dump.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. (Too bad.)
> 
> Since I've heard a few rumors about Regina being pregnant with Robin's baby now (yuck), and - if it's actually true - it'll never turn out like I would want it to, I thought I should just tell my own tale about it. While in this story it is still Robin's baby, Swan Queen is endgame. Duh.  
> This is gonna be a multi-chapter fic (about like 15-ish chapters, probably). Hope you'll enjoy it! Reviews are always welcome!

When Emma heard the knock on her front door, the first thing she did was let out an annoyed groan. After all, it was around 10.30 PM on a Monday night, and even though she was the sheriff, which – in a small town like Storybrooke – meant that she was on-call basically 24/7, emergencies mostly reached her through her phone, though, instead of coming straight to her home.

She put the beer she had been absentmindedly taking a sip from every now and then on the coffee table next to the couch, before she stood up, and went to open the door – ready to give the idiot disturbing her first quiet evening in what felt like 20 years a piece of her mind.

The person who actually stood in front of her once she had opened the door, however, made all of the insults she had already prepared in her mind instantly disappear into thin air.

“Regina? What’s wrong?” Every alarm bell in the blonde’s head was ringing while she took in the appearance of the woman in front of her.

She looked completely beside herself with something Emma couldn’t exactly pinpoint; her normally impeccable hair was tousled, she was wearing yoga pants – _yoga pants_ – and Emma was positive she could even see dried tear tracks on the brunette’s paler than usual cheeks.

Her heart uncomfortably clenched together in her chest. While they were still on somewhat uncertain terms every now and then, Emma liked to think they had established a mutual understanding she would even call a friendship. They just kind of _got_ each other in a way that no one else had before. It was nice. Easy. Comfortable.

And most importantly, they had each other’s backs; so before Regina could even react, Emma had taken her by the hands, and all but dragged her towards the couch in the middle of the room, where the once-again mayor unceremoniously collapsed, letting her head fall in her hands. For a moment, Emma just stared at the normally so put-together woman now slumped on her couch. She wondered if something had happened to Henry, and instantly a wave of panic shot through her. She then wondered if Regina was sick; her panic grew tenfold.

Eventually, Emma sat down on the couch as well, however, way on the other end to give Regina the space she knew the other woman needed; at least for the moment. For what seemed like an eternity, they just sat there, nobody saying a word, because if Emma knew anything about Regina, it was that one should not push the former mayor; she had to come around herself.

“I... I’m pregnant,” Regina whispered eventually, and at first Emma thought she was just making stuff up in her head now. But she wasn’t, she realized after a beat, and couldn’t help her jaw automatically almost hitting the floor. She did not exactly know _what_ she had expected when she had found Regina at her doorstep, but certainly not _this_. Regina and Robin hadn’t even been a thing for a month, at least as far as Emma knew.

She just couldn’t believe that Regina _I’m the biggest control freak ever_ Mills had let herself get knocked up by some random – and more importantly _married_ – dude who, to top it all off, smelled like fucking forest. Emma wanted to punch a goddamn puppy. For some reason she had hated that guy from the moment they had first met. Because he was a moron, a cheater, and constantly looked like he had to take a big dump. Not at all because she was kinda jealous, if she actually thought about it.

“I’m sorry I’m even bothering you with this, but... I didn’t really know who else to turn to.” If it was possible, her shoulders sagged even more. She looked so small, it choked Emma with sorrow. Even when Regina had had to stop the trigger to save the town, when they had been sick with worry about Henry in Neverland, when they had said goodbye at the town line, Regina had never looked this broken. It made Emma want to reach out to the brunette, to take her hand, let her cry on her shoulder. But she didn’t move. Instead, she just looked at Regina, as if trying to memorize every little detail about the other woman.

“It’s fine. I... just didn’t see that one coming,” she mumbled quietly after a while, desperate to get her act back together, to not scare Regina off, and help her somehow instead. She just wanted to do something to make her feel better; anything, really. But she herself was overwhelmed already, so she couldn’t even fathom what had to be going on in Regina’s head right now.

“Are you alright?” she asked tentatively, inching a little closer to the brunette sitting on the other end of the couch. It was a stupid question – a pathetically weak attempt at giving comfort – she knew it, but it was the best she could do right now. “Do I look alright,” the brunette laughed bitterly, and finally looked Emma in the eyes. The blonde saw that they were darker than normal; pure chocolate instead of the usual cognac. It looked breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly heartbreaking all at once. It made Emma even more desperate to try and help the other woman with everything she had.

“If you need anything or... whatever, I’m always here to help you, y’know?” Regina just shrugged and looked back down at her hands that were fidgeting in her lap. “Regina, seriously.” Carefully, Emma finally reached out and put one of her hands onto Regina’s, effectively stopping her fidgeting. “After all we’ve been through together up until now, I guess it’s safe to say we’re friends. So stuff it, cuddle up, and just let me help you.”

That was the moment Regina completely fell apart. She basically leaped into the blonde’s arms, shaking with loud sobs. For a while, Emma just held the other woman, and gently drew random shapes on Regina’s upper arm with her pointer finger.

It was the closest they had ever been, at least as far as Emma could remember right then. Regina’s hair smelled a little like the expensive shampoo one of the blonde’s ex-girlfriends had loved to use – some sort of weird vanilla and lilac mix which was about 50 dollars a bottle. Naturally, Emma had always assumed Regina would smell like apples which was a completely ridiculous thought now that she actually thought it through. Great job with the stereotypes, Swan!

At some point, Regina shifted into a proper sitting position again, but still held on to the other woman for dear life. “I just don’t know if I should be happy or devastated,” Regina sobbed, looking at Emma with eyes full of desperation, fear, and hope.

Emma was thinking back to the moment she found out she was pregnant with Henry: 17 years old, alone, and in a jail cell. Not the best circumstances. But Regina was in a different situation altogether. She was a strong woman who knew where she stood in life and what she wanted from it. Most importantly, though, she was not alone. She had Emma.


	2. Week 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer in chapter one.
> 
> Sorry for the fact that this is such a short chapter, but I just wanted to give you something before Christmas. So... MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! If you wanna give me a present, write a review! Hope you guys have a lovely holiday!

“There’s no money in the budget for that, George, and you know it,” Regina almost hissed, and threw the files with George’s proposal onto the table. It was the weekly town council meeting; Emma was bored out of her mind.

For the past half hour she had been tapping her pen against her nose, texting Henry and Ruby, and staring at Regina, who was practically glowing. Although she wasn’t even 5 weeks along, Emma thought she was radiating pure... _something_. She looked even more beautiful than she normally already did.

“I think we should...“ Regina said confident as ever, before she stopped mid-sentence and lifted a hand do cover her mouth. Considerably paler than before, she mumbled something along the lines of “please excuse me for a moment,” before she all but sprinted from the conference room.

For a moment, no one said a word. It was Emma who finally broke the awkward silence: “Just go on with... whatever, I’ll go check on her.” Grabbing her phone and stuffing it into her pocket, she stood from her seat at the head of the table opposite the one Regina had previously occupied.

Truth to be told, Emma had to hold herself back not to run, that’s how worried she was about the other woman. Realistically, she knew that it was probably just the normal morning sickness accompanying the pregnancy, but still.

As predicted, she found the brunette in the little en-suite bathroom attached to her office, hunkered over the toilet.

She must have somehow sensed Emma’s presence, because without even lifting her head she barked out a “get out!” Of course the normally so perfectly put-together woman wouldn’t want anyone, not even the other mother of her son, to see her in a situation like this.

But Emma wouldn’t be Emma if she didn’t completely ignore everything Regina told her - like _all the time_ ; so after a brief moment of just looking at the once-again mayor’s blazer-clad back, the savior crouched down next to the older woman.

Carefully reaching out, Emma grabbed Regina’s hair and held it back. Gathering all of the dark strands in one hand, she put the other one on the other woman’s back, gently rubbing up and down when another wave of nausea hit.

After a while, Regina pulled back from the toilet and sat down on her bottom next to it. She was half leaning against Emma, half leaning against the cold tile wall, while Emma reached over her head to rip some toilet paper from the role, handing it to Regina.

The older woman gave her a tired smile. “Thanks,” she mumbled, before she wiped her mouth.

“Let me just get you some water real quick,” Emma said before she cumbersomely got up. “There’s a bottle on my office table.” Regina pulled her legs to her chest, hugging them, and Emma patted her on the head – on the _fucking_ head – on her way out.

Finding the bottle easily enough, she let herself sink on the chair and took a deep breath. It was a miracle that Regina hadn’t already murdered her with her bare hands after Emma defied her orders – probably, she was just used to that sort of behavior from the blonde by now. She just couldn’t help it though.

Not that Regina was weak, or needy, or anything – she was still hardcore – but she brought Emma’s protective instinct out anyway. Deep down, she had always cared about the brunette in one way or another; after all, she was Henry’s mother and had raised him to be an incredibly great kid.

She had been able to give Henry what Emma could never have offered him¸ and she would be forever grateful for that. Regina was an amazing mother, and would be even more amazing with a second child.

In order to not let the brunette wait any longer, she eventually got up and went back into the en-suite, where she found Regina still on the floor, eyes close, and head resting against the wall.

“Here you go,” she said, while sitting down in front of Regina and holding the bottle out to her. The mayor only smiled in response, opened the bottle, and took a big gulp.

“I had to throw up all the time when I was pregnant with Henry, you know. Pretty annoying.” Giving Regina one of her signature lopsided smiles, Emma put a hand on the other woman’s knee to offer a little comfort (though she didn’t know if she was offering the other woman comfort, or if she was offering it to herself; probably both).

“Thank you,” Regina said then, looking Emma straight into the eyes, and grabbed the other woman’s hand on her knee. “For everything.”


	3. Week 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than the other two, and I'll try to keep it at this length from now on.
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos, and happy holidays to all of you people! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

When Emma’s phone rang at some point around noon, and the caller id said ‘Regina,’ Emma was instantly worried something might be wrong with the other woman. “Is everything okay? Do you need anything,” she asked without even saying hello, almost tripping over her own words.

“I just wanted to ask if you would like to join Henry and me for dinner tonight,” Regina replied calmly, smile evident in her voice.

“Yeah, sure; I’d love to! Any special occasion?” Even though they had become friends, and managed to properly organize a fair custody arrangement concerning Henry, the blonde was still surprised every time Regina took the opportunity to include her into something.

“I... well, I wanted to tell him tonight. About... you know, and,” the normally so eloquent woman hummed and hawed.

Emma knew where this was going, but she wasn’t even mad; she was proud that she was the one Regina called for something like this. “You need some moral support?”

“Something like that,” Regina answered, while audibly exhaling a sigh of relief; it was actually kind of cute, Emma thought. “Anything you want me to bring?”

“No. Just be there at around 6.30,” Regina answered, all business again.

“Looking forward to it!” Emma practically beamed, although - or maybe especially because - she knew Regina couldn’t see it.

“Me too,” came the quiet reply, before Regina hung up the phone.

 

When Emma arrived at the mansion at precisely one minute past 6.30, it was Henry who opened the door a few moments after the blonde had knocked.

“Hey, kid,” she said cheerfully, a bright smile on her face. He, however, wasn’t quite as excited when he saw her: “Mom? What are you doing here?”

“I’m having dinner with you guys tonight. Your mom invited me over earlier, didn’t she tell you?” Although it was a little weird that Henry hadn't know she would be coming over, she didn't read too much into it. It wasn't like Regina was setting her up or anything; at least not anymore.

“Nope, she didn’t,” he answered, but then shrugged and stepped aside to let her into the house. They gave each other a quick hug, before Emma started to take off her boots to neatly put them next to the door, just like Regina liked it.

“Mom’s in the kitchen,” Henry called over his shoulder, before he disappeared into the living room, to probably resume the video game he had been playing before, and Emma smiled.

 

Regina was standing at the stove, stirring something that smelled absolutely amazing. “How are you doing,” Emma asked as she approached the brunette. Turning around just the slightest bit, the mayor gave Emma a radiant smile, before she directed her attention back to whatever she was cooking.

“Not too bad. How was your day?” Slowly, Emma crept even closer to Regina, until she was standing right behind her son’s other mother. “Nothing special, just the usual small-town sheriff stuff, and all that jazz.”

Regina almost jumped at how close Emma’s voice – and therefore Emma herself – was all of a sudden, the blonde could tell. Without thinking, she reached out and placed her left hand on Regina’s hip while resting her chin on the other woman’s right shoulder.

“Smells amazing,” she said, underlined by a ridiculous sniffing noise. From the corner of her eye she could see a slightly flushed Regina turning her head to look at her with an unreadable expression.

That’s when the domesticity of it all hit Emma like a ton of bricks, and she ripped herself away from the other woman as if severely burned.

“I... I’m gonna go check on the kid,” she all but stuttered, before she basically fled from the room, mentally slapping herself.

 

Dinner was a pleasant, albeit a little quiet, affair. As always, the food - salmon with rice and green beans - was absolutely impeccable, and Emma, even though she was quite a decent cook herself, savored every bite. It was Henry who finally broke the somewhat tense silence: “Okay, I might still be a child, but I’m not stupid. Why is mom here?”

Savvy little bastard, Emma thought.

“Henry, we,” Regina began, looking over at the blonde, who gave her an encouraging smile. “ _I_ have to tell you something.” He scrunched up his face in confusion, before his eyes went wide.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Instantly, he was clearly worried. Emma smiled at his display of care for his mother; he loved her so much, and luckily finally realized how much his mother loved him in return, and how much she did for him.

“No, sweetheart. I’m,” Regina said, taking what was probably the deepest breath of her life, “I’m going to have a baby.”

“Wait, what?” Obviously, he hadn't even thought about this possibility; really, why would he?

“So you guys made like a magical baby?” At this, his complete face lit up like a Christmas tree; to say he was excited seemed like a complete understatement. Emma involuntarily smiled at her son’s enthusiasm, but simultaneously, her heart clenched painfully.

He hoped they would be a family; a _real_ family, not this makeshift, half-assed _something_ they were now. It made sense to a 13-year-old, and if Emma was quite honest, it kind of made sense to her as well.

Henry and his two moms, that’s how it should be - no dirty pirates, no cheating thieves. Just the three of them working it out somehow.

Regina, however, shattered that pipe dream with her next words: “No. I don’t even know if something like that is possible, actually. It’s... Robin and I...”

That’s as far as she got with her explanation because, instantly, Henry’s facial expression changed to one between anger and complete horror.

“You’re replacing me,” he stated plainly, and Emma thought she could see actual tears forming in his eyes. This was not how she had thought this whole thing would go down, and, probably, neither had Regina.

“Henry, no! Why would you even think that?” The panic in the brunette’s voice was almost painfully exuberant.

“You, and Robin, and Roland are such a perfect, happy, little family – and now there’s even a new baby that’s completely yours.” Emma was almost shocked to hear Henry talk like that. Sure, she had heard her son say some pretty nasty things to his brunette mother, but this was something completely different altogether.

It was exactly what Emma had thought more than a year ago in the Echo Caves on Neverland when Mary Margaret had spilled her heart’s desire. It hurt her that Henry was going through the same right now.

“Henry, I love you. I,” the brunette tried to defend herself, but Henry didn’t let her finish.

“I barely got to see you when you were with Robin, because you always spent time with him and Roland. You just replaced me with another child, because I’m not enough.”

Before either Regina or Emma could reply, Henry jumped up from his chair which almost tumbled to the floor, and stormed out of the dining room towards the foyer where soon after his steps could be heard on the big staircase.

For a second, the mayor just sat there, eyes tightly closed, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Regina, he doesn’t mean it. It’s just... it’s hard for him, too,” Emma said. She just wanted to make it better; get this fucked up situation right somehow. Her comment, however, only made Regina completely dissolve into tears.

As fast as Emma could manage, she got up from her chair, and, upon reaching Regina, engulfed her in a tight hug. Uncoordinated as the sudden emotional outburst was, they tumbled to the floor together, Regina landing on the blonde’s lap. They didn’t really care.

“He is starting to hate me again,” the brunette sobbed against Emma’s shoulder, and the savior’s heart almost broke at the sight of the broken woman in her arms. This, _all_ of this, wasn’t fair.

Being pregnant, having a baby, should be one of the happiest moments in a woman’s life, but apparently both of them didn’t deserve this happiness.

True, Emma might have involuntarily made the whole Robin situation a tad more complicated than strictly necessary, but Regina had forgiven her for that, since she knew the blonde hadn’t wanted to hurt her on purpose. It was Robin who had fucked it all up with his sneaking around and the cheating. He was an asshole, and if Emma was completely honest, she was more than glad that he was gone for good, even though it might be selfish.

But she was ready to help Regina through it, to pick up the pieces and put them back together. She would get Regina the happy ending she deserved; the real deal, not something where she was only second choice. The former queen was worth so much more.

“What? No, that is complete bullshit, Regina! He loves you, he loves you so much, he just... let me talk to him, okay?”

Emma gently stroked the mayor’s hair, until Regina replied with a nod against the savior’s neck, and Emma kissed her on the forehead before she untangled herself from her, and got up to comfort their son.

 

“Kid? You ok?” The question was accompanied by a tentative knock on the closed door to Henry’s room.

“No,” came the muffled reply from inside, before Emma slowly opened the door. When she entered his room, she found him face down on his bed, head hidden beneath a pillow.

“Henry, listen. Your mom,” the blonde started, but her son didn’t let her finish.

“I hate Robin,” he hissed, while turning on the bed and sitting up. Emma could see the remainders of tears glistening on her son’s cheeks.

“Hate is a strong word, Henry.” Saying this, Emma felt like a complete fucking hypocrite, because when it came down to it, Henry was completely right. Robin was a goddamn asshole, fooling around with two women, and hurting Regina in the process.

“But I do! He is not good for mom! He just lies, and cheats, and is not at all honorable and fair. He stole my mom from me!” Hearing her son utter the words she was thinking herself almost made her cry like a baby. Robin hadn’t only hurt Regina, he had also hurt Henry; and when those two were hurting, Emma was as well. They were her family after all.

“You know that she sent him over the town line, right?” she tried to make him feel better. “He can’t come back, even if he wanted to. She chose you, kid, and she always will. She loves you so, _so_ much.”

She sat down onto the bed next to him, and Henry, much like his brunette mother only minutes before, instantly leapt into Emma’s arms and held her close. “I know, but,” he mumbled against her chest.

“But what?” Emma sure as hell didn’t know what her son was talking about at the moment.

“I thought you and mom... together,” he started, but didn’t finish his thought.

“Me and Regina together _what_ , Henry? You’re not making any sense,” Emma replied, confused. She did’t know what the hell her son was talking about right now, and the sheepish grin he sent her way didn’t help at all.

He just kept looking at her for a while. And then it dawned on Emma. In his naive way of thinking, he had actually thought, maybe even wished, that she and Regina were… _an item_. She almost laughed out loud.

True, she and Regina had been getting along quite well in the past weeks (apart from the whole Marian debacle, of course); they had worked together, managed to work out a proper custody arrangement when it came to their son, and even spent time together alone without tearing each other apart.

And especially Regina’s pregnancy and the fact that Emma - apart from Henry now - was still the only one who actually knew. She was Regina’s confidant, a partner in crime, her _friend_.

Emma wanted to set things right and explain to Henry what was actually going on - or rather not going on - between her and his other mother, but Henry interrupted the blonde before she could even start.

“Are you sure he’s never gonna come back? Robin, I mean,” Henry said, still pressed tightly against his mother. Her shirt was a little wet from his tears, his clasp a little constricting, but she wouldn’t change it for the world.

“Pretty positive, yeah,” she replied, ruffling his hair and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” She still wasn’t sure if he really understood all this; hell, she barely even understood it herself. But she needed to make sure he was all right. After all, she had her own experience with this topic.

“I know how you feel, Henry. When Snow and David first told me they were having a second baby, I was unhappy as well. I thought I wasn’t good enough, but that’s not it at all. They don’t love me any less now that they have Neal, they just love even more; they love both of us. And I know your mom will do the same. She loves you so much, and I love you so much, and I l-... care about her as well. We’re gonna make it work; together, as a family.”

“Promise?” He extended his pinky, and Emma grinned. “Promise,” she replied, connecting her finger to his.

He then detached himself from her, and gave her a smile that was at least somewhat more convincing than before.

“I happen to know that your mom downloaded ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ and might be in favor of watching it tonight,” she said in an attempt to lighten the mood. “But first, you owe her a big, fat apology, kid.”

Instantly, he jumped up from the bed, and all but sprinted out of the room.

 

“Mom?” Henry asked tentatively, as he slowly entered the dining room, Emma at his heels. Regina was sitting on one of the chairs again, and had removed most of the tears from her face, though her puffy, red eyes still betrayed her.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean it,” Henry quietly said, while he approached his mother. Once he had reached her, he climbed onto her lap, even though he was technically a little too big for it by now.

“I love you.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek and put her arms around the brunette, resting his head on her shoulder.

“I love you, too, Henry,” Regina answered, before she pressed a kiss to his hair and returned his embrace. Emma’s heart almost melted at the sight of mother and son. They had come so far in the past year, all of them, and it made her incredibly happy that she was part of this unconventional family.

“We’re gonna figure it out; you, and me, and mom.” Regina embraced her son even tighter, while looking up and meeting Emma’s eyes. The blonde was smiling at the pair in front of her.

 

Eventually, they settled in for the movie, getting comfortable on the couch in front of the big television in the living room. Henry was draped halfway across both his mothers, who were sitting right and left from him.

One of Emma’s arms lay on the backrest behind them, and she was so intently following the movie plot that she, at first, didn't even notice when Regina let her head fall back to rest against the blonde’s hand.

At some point, she did notice, though, and looked at Regina. The mayor gave her a content smile over the head of their son, who was slowly drifting off to sleep, when the brunette reached behind her, and took the other woman’s hand.

“Thank you,” she mouthed, before she turned her attention back to the television screen, never letting go of Emma’s hand.


	4. Week 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Mention of rape/sexual abuse and miscarriage.

It was a few days before Valentine's Day, and Emma and Regina were sitting at Granny's having lunch after a budget meeting earlier in the day, which, if you asked the sheriff, had been the most boring thing since the umpteenth re-run of 'Titanic' on tv over the Christmas holiday.

Right now, however, the combination of greasy food and good company was lifting her mood significantly. They were talking about everyday topics, like Henry's upcoming chess championship, the complete ridiculousness of Valentine's Day, and the fact that, apparently, Dr. Whale was now going out with Ashley. _Gross_.

Later in the day, Regina was due for her first checkup at the gynecologist, which the brunette (and Emma as well, if she was quite honest) had been positively freaking out about all week already. It just made this whole thing a lot more _real_.

"Are you sure you want me to come with you? It might be a bit too… intimate? I don't know." A year, hell, even a few months ago, Emma would've laughed right in the face of anyone who tried told her that she would one day join no other than Regina _fucking_ Mills to a doctor's appointment, and at a ladies doctor no less.

"You don't have to come, if you don't want to," Regina said nonchalantly, stealing two fries from Emma's plate. The blonde could see that, although Regina tried to pretend not to care, she actually did quite a lot.

"It's not that I don't want to, I just want you to be comfortable." Emma herself would have loved to have someone with her for support during her first OB appointment when being pregnant with Henry. But Regina wasn't seventeen, or in prison. She was an accomplished, independent woman, and, next to her, sometimes Emma still felt like the awkward, inept teenager she had once been.

"So you're coming with me," Regina deadpanned with a smirk, and Emma wondered, when the tiger that used to be the other woman had become a cute little kitten that needed lots of cuddles and love.

"God, being pregnant really made you a touchy-feely wussy already." Emma laughed, while putting some more fries from her plate onto the brunette's. Their bantering had always been the blonde's favorite way of communicating with the other woman, and, at this point, it was definitely more affectionate than anything else.

"Do shut up, Miss Swan," the mayor chastised with a huge grin on her face, and kicked the blonde's boot-clad ankle under the table.

 

Emma was surprised when she found out that there were more doctors than Whale, because the idea of him doing, well, _stuff_ with Regina's body actually made her gag. Dr. Andersen, however, seemed to be both, competent and not a complete creeper, so Emma was relatively relaxed when she and Regina took a seat in the examination room.

"First of all, I'm going to ask you something about your medical history, Miss Mills; and if you know something about him - the donor, I mean," the doctor - a tan woman with unruly hair, who was probably in her forties - said, while she typed something on the computer on her desk.

"Donor?" Confused, Regina looked over at the saviour for clarification, but Emma just gave her a shrug, accompanied by an apologetic smile. "I am talking about the sperm donor the two of you used to have this baby," Dr. Andersen added, and Emma almost choked on her own spit.

"We didn't…" - "we aren't…," they started simultaneously, not finishing their sentences. Regina's face was flushed, panic in her eyes, and Emma was sure she looked pretty much the same. She wanted to laugh about the utter ridiculousness of the doctor's assumption, but she knew that wouldn't go down well with Regina, so she stuffed it.

"Oh, excuse me, I just thought… well, then the medical history of the father, perhaps?" The woman was obviously embarrassed about her mistake, although it had been the most obvious explanation of the two women in front of her attending this appointment together.

"There is no father," Regina was quick to say in a flat tone. Confused, Dr. Andersen looked from her to Emma and back again; the blonde just shrugged apologetically. "It's kind of a long story…"

Wow, good thing this whole situation wasn't awkward at all. Emma wanted to slap herself for agreeing to accompany the other woman, but if Regina asked something of her, she somehow had a hard time saying no. It was probably weird, and said something about herself she didn't even want to know, so she simply didn't think about the fact too much.

She was just helping Regina get back on her feet, since the whole Robin-and-Marian debacle had been more or less her fault. With everything she was doing for the other woman, she was simply making up for ruining her happy ending; at least that was what she was telling herself.

Regina's extremely _lousy_ happy ending, Emma thought, because if you actually looked at Robin in the bright light of day, he wasn't exactly Prince Charming. But he had been what Regina had wanted, or maybe still wanted, the blonde didn't really know - they were careful not to speak about _you know who_.

This whole pixie dust and destined soulmate bullshit had seemed pretty shady to the sheriff from the beginning. It sounded a lot like having decisions forced upon oneself, losing control, and arranged marriages with no way out; it sounded like a complete and utter nightmare.

Hell, Emma didn't even believe in that ridiculous True Love business, but that was probably just her own screwed up past relationships talking - you didn't expect a lot from love when your first crush was a lier, your first boyfriend got you pregnant before letting you rot in jail for him, and your almost-fiancé turned out to be a goddamn flying monkey.

She just wanted something nice, something easy. It didn't have to be perfect, or a fairytale, hell, it didn't even have to be forever. Someone smart and witty who challenged her; someone with a sense of humor; someone who understood her past, and was maybe just as broken as she herself was.

Not someone like Hook who didn't bath and had just managed to annoy her enough with his advances for her to give in. He probably thought they were still dating, although they hadn't seen each other in weeks, and Emma had never actually seen him as an actual boyfriend, anyway; he had just been _there_.

Emma kind of zoned out when Dr. Andersen asked the mayor about regular menstrual cycles, periods, and vomiting, because - _yuck_ \- she didn't really want to know. She had first hand experience with all that stuff herself, thank you very much.

So she looked at Regina instead, who was sitting almost painfully straight in her chair, eager to give the perfect answer to every question. When she began to stutter after being asked about past pregnancies, however, Emma was quick to pay attention again.

"I… I had a few miscarriages when… back in the Enchanted Forest." Wait, _what_?

"How many?" The doctor was staring at Regina with a look of empathy on her face, as if she knew something Emma didn't.

"Five, if I remember correctly," she said quietly, looking down on her hands which were nervously fidgeting in her lap. To say Emma was completely shocked would have been a vast understatement.

True, from what she knew about Cora, Leopold, and her own short visit to the old land, she had figured that Regina's life in the Enchanted Forest hadn't been the best time of her life, but the idea had the brunette had already been pregnant at some point hadn't even crossed her mind.

Thinking about what Mary Margaret's father had done to the mayor made her sick. She must have barely been eighteen, just like Emma when she had found out she was pregnant with Henry in jail.

It was true, they had both been through some pretty bad shit in their lives already; maybe that was why - after the initial animosity - they now got along so well. They just got each other; it was nice. Easy.

"At what point during the pregnancies did you lose the babies?" This was definitely not what Emma had expected to happen. She had been anticipating smiles, giggles, and tears of joy, not the boulevard of broken dreams.

"Normally during the first trimester. I carried one way into the seventh month, but it was stillborn." Emma wanted to know more, but she was smart enough to not ask the brunette about it right on the spot. This was a topic for a night on the couch, after they'd put Henry to bed, and completely ignored the movie they were trying to watch to talk instead.

An evening like that had been a somewhat regular occurrence over the past weeks, and Emma would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy those intimate, personal moments with Regina. The other woman was just easy to talk to; she didn't judge, or condemn, or react prejudiced. She simply listened. It was liberating.

"Any medical conditions or medication you take on a regular basis?"

"I took sleeping pills quite often about two years ago, but right now, no; nothing." This, Emma knew about. They had talked about it a few weeks ago, after Emma had told Regina about the brief period in her early teenage years when she had been addicted to prescription drugs, stealing them from her foster mother's medicine cabinet.

"Are you drinking, smoking, or taking drugs?"

"Nothing apart from the occasional glass of red wine or my self-made apple cider, but I completely stopped drinking alcoholic beverages ever since I first found out I am pregnant." Emma wanted to smile about the fact that - of course - the mayor was the picture perfect pregnant woman, but she was still too concerned, too troubled about what she had just learned about the other mother of her son.

"Any psychological conditions that might have a negative impact on your pregnancy? Depression, anxiety disorders, abuses you have suffered in the past?"

When Regina said nothing, Emma looked at her with a concerned expression: "I can go outside, if you want me to." She didn't want to make it harder on the other woman than strictly necessary, because she was pretty certain this was hard enough already. The only problem, however, was that she wasn't exactly sure if her presence was making it easier for Regina or not.

Of course, she hoped she was helping Regina, but she could also see how this wasn't the ideal situation for learning the other woman's deep, dark secrets. They should be sitting on the mayor's big, comfy couch in front of the fireplace and talk about all of this, if Regina actually felt like sharing it with the sheriff, that was. It should be just them, not a doctor they both didn't actually know third wheeling along.

"No, don't be ridiculous, I just…" Regina broke off, taking - what Emma guessed - had to be the deepest breath of her life.

"Technically speaking, I have been raped, I guess," the older woman almost whispered, and Emma hoped she didn't hear her correctly. "The sexual relations between me and my… King Leopold haven't exactly been consensual on my part."

Regina's hands were fidgeting in her lap again, and the blonde desperately wanted to reach over and take them into hers, but she couldn't. She was completely unable to move; paralyzed by shock, anger, and empathy.

Although she herself had never actually been raped, and therefore could not even imagine the pain it had to had caused Regina, she had had her fair share of handsy foster dads over the years, and the demons of those memories still haunted her today. It had to be about a billion times worse for the other mother of her son. "Please excuse me for a moment."

Emma, pale as clay, was careful not to look at Regina while getting up from the chair next to the other woman. Without another word - or any idea about where to go - she left the room. It was too much. What Regina had had to go through in her life was simply too much to handle for the blonde, who had always thought that her life had sucked balls, but the former queen's was a whole other level of awful altogether.

After walking down corridors and stairs in a haze, Emma found herself outside on the sidewalk in front of the building. It was pretty cold, and of course her jacket was still hanging over the back of the chair in the doctor's office upstairs. _Fuck_.

Because she didn't know what else to do, she simply sat down on the sidewalk, and crossed her legs, burying her face in her hands. She was such an idiot.

Instead of running, and therefore sitting out here in the cold, probably catching pneumonia, she should be in there, helping Regina. This wasn't about her, it was about the brunette.

 

"Hey," a voice behind the blonde suddenly said, and Emma almost jumped up, ready to attack, from where she was sitting on the sidewalk. When she turned around, however, it was only Regina, so she replied with a "hey" of her own.

"Are you okay?" Regina looked completely calm and put together, and Emma wondered, if she had been out here for a few hours; she seriously didn't know.

"Are _you_ okay?" If the situation hadn't been that serious, Emma would have laughed. How could Regina do that? How could she - after all the horrible things people had done to her - still care more about other people than herself?

"Emma… all of this happened more than forty years ago. I'm not saying anything that happened was okay, anything he did was okay, but I learnt to live with it. And Henry helped a lot when it came to forgetting. I'm okay," she gently said, giving the sheriff a tentative smile.

"You're the strongest person I've ever met, I hope you know that." Emma had actual tears in her eyes, which would have been completely embarrassing, if this was anyone else. But with Regina, it was okay; it was okay to show weakness, to be vulnerable.

"Emma," Regina said in a tone that suggested she thought what the blonde was saying was complete and utter bullshit; the only thing missing was the signature eye roll she had perfected while telling the blonde she was an idiot.

"I'm serious! You're amazing!" It was astounding how they had gone from 'You're a monster,' and 'He's my son,' to supporting and ensuring each other. To anyone looking from the outside, it had to appear weird; an unlikely friendship between two completely different women. But from the inside, for them, it made absolute sense.

"Thanks," Regina mumbled almost shyly; it was kind of cute.

"Sorry I just left you in there, I just… I couldn't. Are you all done?" On the one hand, the sheriff hoped she was, so she didn't have to hear any more stories of Regina getting hurt, and mistreated, and used; on the other hand, she didn't want mohave missed the whole thing.

"I took some tests, the nasty stuff: blood, pelvis exam, urine sample; but I still need to get the ultrasound. I just… never mind, just forget it, I'm gonna go back inside. You can wait here, or go home, if you want to," the brunette said, and turned around to go back inside the building.

"Regina, wait," Emma quickly said, while grabbing the older woman's wrist. "What is it?"

Instead of looking at her, the brunette looked at the floor. "I thought you might want to see it, too. Probably, I just didn't want to do it alone; have someone to share with afterwards." She halfheartedly tried to get out of Emma's grip, but the blonde didn't let her, and instead took her hand.

"Of course I'm gonna join; wouldn't miss it for the world. Come on."

 

"Just lie down there, please, and lift your shirt," Dr. Andersen said with a smile once they reentered the room. "This might be a little cold now." Regina let out a quiet hiss as the gel came in contact with her belly, but quickly relaxed again, while the doctor started to move the ultrasonic handpiece.

"There's your baby," she said, when something appeared on the screen. Although Emma couldn't make out anything (and if so, it looked more like a squirrel than a proper human being), she still stared at the grey picture in complete wonder. "At this point it's just one small lump of baby." Sounded about right.

To Regina, however, it seemed to actually resemble a child, because when Emma looked over at the other woman on the gurney, she saw tears glistening in the brunette's eyes, accompanied by a blindingly bright smile on her lips. It made the savior's heart melt.

Apart from the occasional outburst of joy involving their son, it wasn't often that Emma saw the former queen this happy, which was actually kind of a shame. Regina should always be happy. After the decades of heartache and pain, it was the least she deserved.

If Emma could, she would give her everything: love, and happiness, and a true happy ending and… woah, okay, _stop it, Swan_. Even if she would walk to the moon and back for the other woman, if necessary, that wasn't Emma's role, it wasn't what Regina wanted from her. It was her task to _find_ Regina's happy ending, not to want to _be_ it. She was only a friend.

"But from now on, he or she going to grow every day, and when you have your mid-pregnancy ultrasound in a few weeks, we're going to be able to tell apart arms, and legs, and all the other parts. If we're lucky, though, we can already hear your babies heartbeat right now."

At that, Regina looked even more excited. A few seconds of deafening silence followed, before a strong and steady sound filled the room, and a single tear ran down Regina's cheek.

"I am going to give you some prenatal vitamins you need to take," Dr. Andersen said while scribbling on a notepad on her desk. "Make sure you eat healthy, and also enough. Make sure to avoid raw seafood like sushi, soft cheese, and cut back on caffeine."

Emma was about one hundred and five percent sure that Regina knew all that already. Because she knew the other woman, and even though the mayor had changed, she was still a complete control freak, who always had to be on top of everything; so she had probably read her way through countless websites, and maybe even bought some books already.

"Be prepared to experience mood swings, bloating, fatigue, tender breasts, and of course the infamous frequent urination." _Oh please_ , tell me something new, Emma thought, but when she looked to her right, Regina was listening intently.

"Sexual intercourse is completely safe, as long as you don't experience any unusual symptoms, such as bleeding, severe abdominal pain, or persistent leg cramp." Emma was still looking at Regina, who, in that moment, lifted her gaze and meet Emma's eyes for only a second before she averted them again, blushing furiously, which, in turn, made the blonde blush as well. _Awkward_.

"You can clean your abdomen with this," Dr. Andersen said, while giving Regina a few paper towels. "I'm just gonna print you a nice photo of your baby, and then you're good to go." She smiled, and then turned around to press some buttons on the machine that, to Emma, still looked like something aliens from another planet might abduct you with.

 

Once they had left the examination room, Regina halted and looked at the picture still in her hand. "Oh my God, I'm having a baby," she said, lifting her eyes to meet Emma's, and sporting the brightest smile the blonde had ever seen on anyone.


	5. Week 13

It was a Saturday night about three weeks after the first ultrasound, and Emma, Regina, and Henry were sitting in the living room, after having had an impromptu family dinner earlier, each of them engrossed in a different book.

The two women were sprawled across the big couch in front of the fireplace; at some point a while ago, the mayor’s feet had found their way onto the savior’s lap, and were still there now. Henry was laying on his stomach on the second, smaller couch, reading a book Belle had recommended to him when he had visited her at the library earlier in the week - something about digging holes in the hot sun and juvie, which made Emma question, if the book was actually appropriate, but apparently his other mother had nodded it through, so the blonde was okay with it as well. She trusted Regina.

The whole scene was almost sickeningly domestic, and, under normal circumstances, something like this, something that felt important, and like it might finally last, would have scared Emma shitless, making her run for the hills, but this - sitting here with her son and his other mother, just being content having the others around - felt so right, it made the blonde want to cry about how perfect it was. This was family.

Although she would rather watch the new Ellen Page movie she had just gotten on dvd, or beat the kid in Mario Kart, she was, for Regina’s sake, instead, reading a book called ‘The Better Baby Book’ right now. It was one from the pile of about twenty on the coffee table, most if which the other woman had already read, of course.

To be honest, the book wasn't even that bad, but it kind of freaked the blonde out how crazy some women got about pregnancy, and having the best baby on the planet. Sure, it was important to eat healthy, not get too stressed out, and just take care of oneself in general, but epigenetic research or strict meal plans seemed to take this whole thing one step too far for the sheriff.

While Regina mostly thought the same way, and they often laughed about particularly crazy ideas together, the mother-to-be was also deeply concerned about getting this pregnancy right. Understandable, after what she had been through, which was why Emma tried to support her to her best abilities.

They had already managed to get through the first trimester without any problems - knock on wood - the mayor’s morning sickness was getting better as well, and, hidden under wide blouses and flittering dresses, she was even already beginning to show. They were doing great.

Every day, the women had lunch together at Regina’s office, where Emma would vent about her parents, and baby Neal’s inability to sleep through the night, while Regina complained about the stupidity of the people in Storybrooke, and the sheriff’s apparent inability fill out paperwork correctly.

A few nights a week, the savior came over to the mansion to have family dinner with just the three of them, which, more often than not, ended with Emma falling asleep on the couch during whatever they were watching on tv that night, and, therefore, involuntarily sleeping over (though Regina entertained the strong suspicion that the blonde did it on purpose to get a good night’s sleep and an amazing cup of coffee along with cinnamon french toast every once in a while - aka at least twice a week; she wasn't complaining, though).

Just when the blonde was reading a particularly disturbing passage about brushing your nipples with a toothbrush to ready them for breastfeeding (seriously, what the fuck), Henry let out a dramatic sigh, and then piped up from his couch: “You guys are super boring tonight; just like an old married couple. I'm going up to my room.” He was wearing a shit-eating grin.

Quickly, Emma took off one of her slippers, throwing it at him, and missing him by about 200 miles. His grin only got bigger.

“Alright, sweetheart. But don't forget…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, mom: lights out at 9.30, no sneaking around.” He rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. Although most of his mother’s rules and prohibitions still annoyed him, he accepted them, and, most importantly, knew they were a sign of her caring about him. Plus, he could always lull his other mother into breaking or bending the rules - having two moms was so much better than having just one.

“That's my little prince.” Regina smiled, ruffling his hair, and pressing a kiss to his temple. She was still happy that he was willingly accepting her affection again, though she feared this might change again soon due to his teenage years.

“Night, kid,” Emma said, while giving him a half hug. She was one hundred and five percent sure that he was going to stay awake longer than half past nine, because he either wanted to finish his book or text one of the girls from his English class she knew he had a crush on, even if he didn't want to admit it. “Night, moms.”

“Little shit,” Emma mumbled once he was gone, and put the book aside. “We’re not boring!”

“That's what you're mad about? Not the ‘old married couple’-part?” Regina laid her book down as well, but not before carefully putting a bookmark inside, and watched the woman next to her with a mixture of genuine curiosity and amusement.

“Oh come on! You have to admit it’s kind of true. At least if we judge by the eye roll frequency.”

“Idiot,” Regina said with a smile on her face. By rolling her eyes out of sheer reflex, she unintentionally proofed the blonde’s theory right.

“But at least I'm a charming idiot,” the blonde argued, grinning widely. In this moment, and although she knew for sure that Regina would deliver a verbal blow, she was completely unguarded. She knew that the other woman didn't have any bad intentions anymore; they were just joking around like some silly teenagers.

“Debatable,” Regina deadpanned, and Emma’s smile grew even wider at how well she knew the other woman by now. It was so natural that it was almost scary, but really, the sheriff didn't care; she wasn't scared anymore.

“Asshole,” she murmured, unsuccessfully trying to hide it behind a fake cough.

“Excuse me?” Regina adjusted the reading glasses on her nose (which looked really, awfully sexy, damn it), and tried to give the blonde her best patented Evil Queen glare.

“Love you,” Emma singsonged, picking her book back up to quickly hide her face behind it once she realized what she had just said.

 

“Interestingly enough, apparently, you are supposed to have increased libido when pregnant,” Regina said after a period of silence, and Emma almost jumped up from her spot on the couch in surprise.

“You feeling it yet?” Emma wasn't completely sure, if she really wanted to talk about this topic with Regina. It wasn't that she was prim or anything, because she for sure wasn’t, she just… for some reason, it made her a little uncomfortable.

“Thanks for your concern, Miss Swan, but no, I don't. However, I'll let you know when it is the case,” the former queen said in her best ‘Mayor Mills means serious business’-voice, a huge smile on her face.

“Please do. I did vow to give you your happy ending, after all. And that includes all areas…” The savior wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and burst into laughter, when the mayor just looked at her in utter confusion.

It took the brunette a second, but then she understood exactly what it was the other woman was implying. 

“Emma!” The mayor flushed bright red, and, for maybe the first time since Emma had met her, was completely speechless. It was endearing.

“Relax, woman! I'm kidding!” Emma laughed, almost doubling over, and the brunette playfully slapped her knee in response. “Jeez, I didn't take you for that uptight.”

“I'm not,” Regina stated matter-of-factly, while the sheriff just grinned at her, smug as ever.

“I did have... relations with women already, if that's your definition of what ‘not being uptight’ means.” This actually, genuinely surprised the blonde. Regina just seemed so… straight. But, to be fair, apart from the occasional plaid shirt, and sitting around like a guy with massive balls most of the time, Emma didn’t look too gay herself. 

 

It took Regina a few minutes after her revelation to find her voice again: “What about you?” It was a tentative question, and if Emma didn't know better, she would think Regina was actually anxious about the answer. But Emma did know better; why would Regina be, Emma thought, and felt utterly ridiculous.

“What about me what?” Emma asked, legitimately confused. Good lord, sometimes she really had the attention span of a goldfish; embarrassing.

“Did you ever get involved with another woman?”

The sheriff only hesitated a second, before she answered in the affirmative: “My first crush was a girl, actually; Lily. I met her when I almost got busted for shoplifting - she saved my ass.” And that was when the scales fell from her eyes. “She looked like you, to be honest.” How - the hell - had she never seen it before? They could basically be twins.

Thinking about it, she did definitely have a type when it came to women: dark haired and fierce, with a complicated past, and at least a small flaw. Lily, Ruby, and also Victoria, who she had dated on and off in her early twenties - a half-black, half-Asian lawyer with bipolar depression. The biggest shocker about this realization, however, was that Regina fitted the category perfectly. Oh shit.

Looking genuinely concerned, the mayor tilted her head. “What happened?”

“She lied to me about stuff and I ran. Story of my life.” Emma shrugged, because, really, who cared about that shit anymore? She had never had any luck with other people, no matter on what level, and, at this point in life, she had (sometimes more, sometimes less) come to terms with that.

However, her unlucky streak had stopped when Henry had first come to find her back in Boston all those years ago. Since then, she had friends, she had parents, and a son; and she had Regina.

“I'm sorry,” the other woman said quietly, looking so, so sad and empathetic, it almost broke Emma’s heart. Regina had been a completely different person from the woman the blonde had met on the mansion’s front porch when she had first brought Henry back home before the pregnancy already, but now she was even more drastically different; all cuddles and fluff. Emma liked this new version, even though it probably wouldn't last, but she had already liked the one before, and the one before that, and the one… woah, okay; enough, Swan!

“Don't be. It was like 15 years ago. I'm over it.”

“I can still be sorry, can’t I? You deserve to be happy, too, you know. I want you to be.” Emma wanted to cry about how much the other woman apparently cared about her. Never would she have thought she would ever have a person like that in her life, and even less that this person would be Regina, of all people. She was glad about it, though.

“There would be no Henry, if it had worked out with her; and that's a big ‘if,’” Emma said, because it was true. She had known Lily for like a day, and although that day had been pretty intense (and the reason for her first tattoo), it was still more the idea of Lily than the girl herself that was so important.

It had been Lily who had showed her that there were people who understood, people who cared, but also people who lied to you. Thanks to her, Emma had finally learned how to cope with that, how to protect herself, without complete isolation. And, most importantly, Lily had finally made her realize that she liked women more than men. She had been the last puzzle piece in the jigsaw that was Emma Swan.

“And I’d rather have Henry - and you - than some teenage fling that probably wouldn't have lasted anyway. I am happy.” It was the truth. She was in a good place right now, and her life was the best it had ever been; she was loved, and had people to love in return. She had a family.

“I'm glad you are.” Regina gave her a gentle smile, and reached for the blonde’s forearm, giving it a light squeeze. For a while, they just looked at each other with something between curiosity, understanding, and affection. It almost seemed like the brunette was leaning in a little, but before anything could happen, Emma completely destroyed any possibility of whatever had been about to happen with her next words.

“Oh, and I hooked up with Ruby when I first came to town,” the blonde said with a shrug and a lopsided smile, and Regina just stared at her, mouth slightly agape. True, she had never told Regina about any of this before, but, also, she had never asked; and now that they were talking about already anyway, she could just put all her cards on the table. “You had me so riled up, I needed to let off steam somewhere. Ruby was available and willing.”

“And you would have never let me get into your pants, anyway,” Emma mumbled without even thinking, eyes cast down on her hands. God, why had she even started telling the brunette all this.

“How would you know, if you never asked, dear?” While Emma looked back up again and just stared at the other woman in complete shock, mouth slightly agape, Regina gave her a wicked smirk, before she got up and left the living room, headed for the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, my lovelies! Make it a great one!
> 
> Thank you for your kudos, and reviews and just general support for this story - it means a lot to me!
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter again, I'm sorry, but I have so much stuff to do for uni that I'm glad I managed to write anything.
> 
> And now please enjoy a horrified Snow White!
> 
> xx

"You're an idiot," Regina laughed, and threw a grape towards Emma, before popping another one in her mouth.

"Tell me something I don't know, woman." The blonde smiled, adjusting her sunglasses, before she turned around to lay on her stomach.

It was a pretty warm day for the end of March, which is why Emma and Regina had spent most of it on a tiny blanket out in the mansion's backyard, sipping homemade lemonade, and discussing what was a necessary acquisition for the baby, and what wasn't.

Emma wanted to get everything and more, which, Archie would tell her, probably had something to do with guilt and making up for past failures, while Regina was obsessed with gadgets that helped monitor the baby in every possible situation (talk about control freaks).

Henry was spending the day, and the night as well, at a friend's place to play some new video game, eat tons of sweets Regina didn't allow him to eat, and, most likely, talk about girls, or whatever it was teenage boys did when they were alone. (Emma didn't really know, even though she thought and acted like one more often than not.)

With Henry away, they had decided to have dinner at Granny's later, because Regina had a serious craving for Fettuccine Alfredo in combination with chicken nuggets at the moment, and, as most times, Emma was too lazy to cook on a Saturday night.

The sun was slowly beginning to set, when they packed the things they had had in the garden with them away, and started to make their way over to the diner by foot.

Because of the nice weather, Regina, who was actually showing quite a bit already now, was wearing a rather form-fitting long sleeved shirt, and Emma thought she looked absolutely stunning.

For some weird reason, she had always found pregnancy really, really attractive on women, and, of course, Regina, who was gorgeous 24/7 anyway, was no exception. Damn it.

As they walked up to Granny's, they were discussing who's fault it was that their son was a horribly early riser (who had woken them up at 6.30 on a fucking Saturday morning, much to Emma's dismay). The blonde, of course, found Regina completely guilty of the too short night, because, first of all, she had raised Henry for the first 10 years, and, secondly, as opposed to Regina, the sheriff never got up before at least 12pm of her own accord.

Laughing, the brunette swatted the other woman's arm and muttered something along the lines of "too much Lion King," as Emma held the door open for her and they entered the diner together.

It was pleasantly empty for a weekend night, and they were already heading for their usual table by the window in the back, when a voice they both knew all too well disturbed the moment they were having.

"Emma! Regina!" Snow was wearing one of her larger than life smiles on her lips as she waved the two women over to the booth she was occupying with baby Neal, and Emma sighed internally; the quiet night alone with Regina was over before it had even begun.

Automatically, the savior put her hand on Regina's lower back to guide her to her mother's table, and also give her something to anchor her and keep calm.

Although they all had found a truce of sorts, and could, most likely, even be considered a family, sometimes, Regina still reacted hostile to Snow's presence. Really, Emma couldn't blame her. She loved her mother, and was incredibly happy to finally have found her parents, but, sometimes, Snow was complete overkill.

The pixie haired woman was in the middle of saying something about Henry, David, and fishing, when her eyes suddenly grew wide and her gaze went from Regina's belly to Emma and back to Regina. " _Regina?!_ Are you pre…? How…?"

"Seeing as you are a mother of two, I would like to think you know that babies don't appear out of thin air," the mayor said cooly, face void of emotion.

"But… oh my God! You slept with _Robin_?" It was loud enough for some of the other patrons sitting in the diner to turn around, interested in what was happening. "You didn't even know him for two weeks! _Two weeks_!" Snow looked absolutely horrified.

"Mom…" Emma's tone was low, a warning. She didn't need this unnecessary fuss right now (or ever, for that matter). All she wanted was to spend a nice evening with Regina, but, most probably, that wasn't going to happen. Not after this.

"But it's true! And he is _married_!"

"Just stuff it, okay? It's not ideal, but we're trying to make the best of it," the blonde said in an attempt at being diplomatic, which, unfortunately, completely backfired.

" _W-what_? You two…?" If it was possible, her eyes grew even wider, and Emma didn't want to know what exactly her mother was thinking right now. She was probably imagining that the former queen was corrupting her sweet, innocent daughter with magic and kinky lesbian sex. If only, Emma thought, and instantly blushed at her inappropriate thoughts. _Get your act together, Swan!_

" _We_ are co-parents; it doesn't matter if it applies to one kid or more," the blonde said confidently, although she and Regina had never actually discussed what would happen after the baby was born. If she was completely honest, she would love to be a part of the baby's life, would love to see it grow up.

Not necessarily because she had missed all that with Henry - no one could ever take his place in her heart, and, thanks to Regina, she actually had memories of him when he was younger anyway - but because she wanted to see Regina experience it all. She wanted to see Regina with a baby in her arms, with a toddler on her hip, with a first-grader next to her; she wanted to see Regina be a mother.

"And besides, stop being such a hypocrite! _You_ got pregnant with me after like a day of being with dad, and before the curse broke you had a fuckin' affair with him while _he_ was married! People who live in glass houses, you know," Emma continued, because sometimes Snow was so deluded, it was an insult to every rationally thinking person.

"I… Your father and I are True Loves, that is something completely different!" Of course that was her argument, the savior thought, having to be careful not to roll her eyes.

With her mother, that was what it always came down to, and, frankly, it was fucking annoying. Shoving her True Love bullshit in everyone's face was almost an obsession of the other woman. Maybe - _maybe_ \- Emma would find it less repulsive, if she had a True Love of her own, maybe she would understand, but since she didn't, and probably never would, she didn't give a flying fuck about her mother's constant talk about butterflies, puppies, and world peace.

"And Regina and Robin are like Pixie Dust certified soulmates. How is that any different?"

"Oh _please_! He is _not_ her True Love," Snow scoffed, and Emma couldn't believe her ears. Was her mother actually serious about this? The woman who loved everything and everyone didn't allow the mother of her own grandchild love and happiness.

"Wow, that's rich, mom. Do you still hate her that much? You can't even not begrudge her her happy ending, after all she's been through? Don't you think she more than earned it by now? She saved all our asses ten thousand times already, and she has been miserable for so long; just give her a damn break, will you?"

At this point in the discussion, Emma was completely and utterly pissed. Nobody was allowed to talk about Regina like that, least of all the woman who, once upon a time, had cost the brunette her first love. For once in a long, long time, Regina had been happy, and - not least thanks to Emma herself - that happiness had been ripped from her again, before she could even actually enjoy it.

True, the blonde had never been particularly fond of that forest hobo and the fact that he was Regina's apparent happy ending, but, for Regina's sake, she had accepted it, and kept her mouth shut.

Personally, she thought that the other woman deserved so much better than that mumbling case of 'too stupid to be bearable'; she deserved someone who accepted her past and shared her present, who loved her unconditionally without putting her on a pedestal, who saw her flaws, but didn't think she was broken. She deserved someone who _understood_.

"That's not… I didn't…," Snow stuttered, desperate to make her daughter understand what she actually wanted to say. "Of course I want her to be happy! That's why she can't be with Robin! He's not her happy ending!"

"Excuse me?" Regina appeared to have finally found her voice again, and was in attack mode right away. In a desperate attempt to calm the other woman down a little, Emma reached for her forearm, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

"Regina, listen. Whether you like it or not, I know you; I know you really, really well. And I know that you weren't truly happy with Robin, I could see it in your eyes! You didn't look at him like you looked at Daniel, or how you look at E-…" All of a sudden, the former queen's complete body tensed, and for a second, Emma thought the brunette would punch Snow right in the face.

"I think that is quite enough of you interfering in my affairs, Snow; and without being asked, no less," she said in her best 'Hardass Mayor Mills'-voice, giving her former step-daughter a deathly glare, before she turned towards the blonde woman standing next to her.

"Can we please leave, Emma? I am not feeling too well."

"Yeah, sure," Emma stuttered, mildly confused that Regina was beating a hasty retreat, but knew better than to question her decision (she wasn't a complete idiot, after all).

They were at the door already, when Regina turned around one last time, and, with a fake smile, gave her not-anymore-but-maybe-again arch-nemesis the final blow: "Oh, and Snow; don't bother waiting up for your daughter later. She is not going to come home tonight."

The raven haired woman's jaw dropped in an almost comical way. It seemed like she was struggling to say something, but whatever it was, Emma didn't hear the reply because Regina had already taken her hand and was all but dragging her outside.

"Ookaaay, that was…" Emma let out a breath, accompanied by an awkward chuckle. She wanted to somehow lighten up the mood, ensure that this night wasn't a complete and utter train wreck. About to say something, she was more than surprised by Regina's next words.

"Thank you," the brunette muttered quietly without looking at the sheriff. Her hands were fidgeting in front of her baby bump, while she intently stared at the ground beneath her feet.

"For what?"

"For standing up for me." Finally, she looked up, and Emma directly in the eyes; her own brown orbs were filled with tears.

The savior's heart almost broke at the sight. She couldn't even imagine how hard it must have been for the other woman to hear all those horrible things thrown her way, and Emma wanted to slap herself for not simply grabbing Regina and leaving when Snow had started with her outburst.

"No need to thank me. It's what you do for people you lo-…like." Emma was sure she was blushing because of her almost slip up, but Regina only grinned knowingly.

"Well, I guess it is," she finally said with a smile, after simply looking at the blonde for a while, before she linked her arms with the other woman, rested her head against the savior's shoulder, and started walking back to the mansion.


	7. Week 16

"Emma, no," Regina said firmly, putting her cutlery to the side, and reaching for a napkin to wipe her mouth.

"Oh, please, Regina, come on!" Emma was trying her best to deliver a proper Henry imitation - all puppy dog eyes and huge pout - because she knew Regina couldn't resist that look; well, on their son, at least.

They were sitting in the brunette's office - between lots of forms and paperwork - having an emergency mayor-sheriff meeting (combined with lunch, because stress always made the savior extremely hungry), after a moderately severe storm had wrecked some havoc two nights before.

Right now, however, they had moved on to a somewhat more pleasant conversation altopic: a weekend trip to an indoor water park Emma and Henry had been more or less secretly planning for a while already.

"I'll look like a beached whale when wearing a swimsuit." Self-consciously, the brunette draped the corner of her cardigan over her belly to hide the little human growing inside; the other woman just gave her an affectionate smile.

"Bullshit, Regina. You look gorgeous," Emma assured her, because it was _true_. Regina had always been positively breathtaking, and the semi-sized baby bump in combination with the infamous pregnancy glow and her slightly longer hair only added to that.

"You really think so?" Big, brown, hopeful eyes looked at Emma, and, in that moment, Regina seemed so young, the blonde wanted to cuddle her like a cute little puppy.

"Yes," the blonde affirmed once more. "Plus it'll be fun! Henry wanted to go for months already, but between Neverland, your lovely sister and the Dairy Queen, we didn't exactly have a lot of spare time."

"Okay, fine. But under one condition," Regina said, all business.

Since Emma trusted the other woman one hundred percent, she wasn't afraid of what the mayor wanted; naturally, however, she was curious what she would ask Emma to do. Slay another dragon? Make some weird potion? Move the sun? Emma gestured for Regina to just spill it already, and so the older woman continued: "You have to go to childbirth classes with me. It's in a few weeks."

Regina folded her hands onto her lap, and just looked at the blonde with an innocent smile on her face.

"No need; I can show you how to pant in a much more entertaining manner, if you know what I mean." The blonde wiggled her eyebrows, just like every time their bantering turned into something sexual. It happened quite a lot these days, but Emma would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it.

"Don't. Don't tickle the dragons tale," Regina said in a voice that made clear that Emma was treading on _very_ thin ice right now.

"Oh my God, _seriously_? You're horny as fuck, aren't you?" Laughing, the blonde threw her head back.

"Shut up, Swan," Regina all but growled, throwing one of her pens at the woman on the other side of the desk. Brushing invisible fluff off her pants, she added: "I do have… certain desires at the moment."

The brunette looked somewhere between completely mortified and absolutely desperate. Emma thought it was hilarious to see the normally so put together woman like this.

Pregnancy had changed Regina quite a bit, but Emma wasn't complaining; she actually liked it. Being close to Regina, sharing basically everything with the other woman, had Emma feel more wanted and appreciated than ever before. She was in a good place. She was happy.

"Too bad you're not getting any," Emma said, smug smile on her lips. True, she didn't either, but she had years of experience in taking care of herself, so she was doing okay (kind of, anyway).

"Indeed it is."

"How about you ask your old 'friend' Tink; I bet she would be _delighted_ to help you out." The blonde laughed wholeheartedly about her own remark, but Regina just gave her a death glare.

The former queen had told her about her affair with the fairy a few weeks back, after they had, coincidentally, met the other woman at the supermarket, and she had given them, well, Emma especially, the stinkeye.

After that encounter, Regina had fessed up: She had met Tinkerbell after she had just become queen and was lonely and miserable. Quickly, they became friends, and the blonde woman wanted to help Regina find her happy ending (apparently a reoccurring theme in the mayor's life).

Friendship had turned into passionate kisses, which had turned into second base, which had turned into sex in one of the far off pavilions in the palace gardens. According to Regina, Tink had confessed her love for the young queen at some point, but Regina, afraid of being tortured or killed if anyone ever learned about the whole thing, had rejected her, and they hadn't seen each other until they met again on Neverland.

"Emma! You promised you wouldn't talk about it ever again; the circumstances were extraordinary and I…" Regina's face was beet red, and Emma was afraid the other woman was going to throw something in her face again. She was quick to pour oil on troubled waters.

"I'm just teasing you. Though I knew you banged her ever since you first mentioned her." Smug smile on her face, she popped the last fry in her mouth, and raised her eyebrows in challenge, just for good measure. _Bam, savior out!_

"Oh, almighty master of perception, how will I ever be as wise as you?" Regina laughed; it was a sound Emma had come to love.

"Shut up. My gaydar is spot-on," she stated confidently, before remembering at least two hundred twenty-five instances she had been completely wrong. "Most of the time…"

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Regina only grinned, before she took the empty plastic dish her salad had been in, and threw it in the trash can under her desk.

 

"Two adults, one child, please," Emma ordered once it was her turn, gesturing behind her at her son and his other mother.

The water park was not even an hour out of Storybrooke, and the ride - Regina had even let her drive the Benz - had been filled with animated chatter, singing along to the radio, and heartfelt laughter.

Henry had been going on and on about the newest book he was reading with Belle in the afternoons when he went to the library after school every day to do his homework there and spent some time with his grandma (she hated when he called her that, though, so he only ever called her by her first name - at least to her face).

"I'll make it a family card, it's cheaper that way," the young guy behind the register said, typing away on the touch screen.

For a second, the blonde was taken aback; _family_. She looked back over her shoulder, where Regina and Henry were having an intense discussion about Wolverine.

"That works, I guess." Emma shrugged, taking the ticket, a smile on her face.

 

A few hours, about ten thousand water slide rides, and forty pounds of sweets later, the three of them were lazily lying on some loungers by the side of the baby pool. There was another family - mom, dad, and two adorable little girls - next to them.

Regina, who had refrained from going on the slides, because she didn't want to risk anything, had admitted that this was the most fun she had had in a while, and Emma had just smiled at her, mentally patting herself on the back for a job well done.

At some point (and with much roar) the family next to them got up. The two little girls were already running for the slides (and Emma could see Regina fight the urge to yell after them to be careful and not run), the dad hurrying behind, but the mom turned around after a few steps, smiling at Emma and Regina. She was still pretty young, twenty-five tops, Emma guessed, and she reminded her a little of Ashley.

"I just wanted to say: you are such a beautiful family, it makes me really happy. Are you married yet?"

Emma just gaped at her, not sure if she had actually understood correctly. "Ehm…," she began, but her brain wasn't very cooperative at the moment. Regina was the first to get her act together: "We're not…" The other woman, obviously embarrassed, didn't let her finish, tough.

"Oh my God, excuse me! I just thought… he calls you both 'mom,' and you're obviously expecting again. Sorry, I'm sorry," the young woman rambled, turning bright red. Emma found it kind of endearing, and, really, she couldn't blame the woman.

She and Regina had become awfully domestic in the past weeks, which was probably due to both, Regina's pregnancy hormones, and the fact that Emma didn't really want to be alone anymore (and Regina was way better company than Hook).

They were good for each other - who would've thought - and just supported each other with getting their lives in order. That was what friends did, after all, wasn't it?

"No harm done, don't worry, dear." Regina gave her a sincere smile, and the woman relaxed a bit, before apologizing once more and following her husband and kids to the slides.

 

Later, when Henry was in bed already and the day almost over, the two women were sitting on the couch in the lounge. The room was quite dark, with only a few lit candles randomly scattered across various tables and shelves. If it wasn't her and Regina, Emma would call the situation romantic, but - sitting here with the other mother of her son - she didn't really want to think about that too much.

At the moment, she couldn't even actually define _what_ they were to each other. Something akin to best friends, mixed with their usual banter and the occasional joke below the belt. It was great, more than Emma ever thought would exist between them, but still… the blonde wouldn't be opposed to taking this the whole way.

Yes, there was the really real possibility that she maybe, _maybe_ , had a teeny-tiny crush on the brunette. Okay, probably a huge one. She didn't know when it had happened, or _how_ , for that matter, and she had tried hard to bury it deep down inside, to just forget about it, because it was probably the last thing Regina needed right now. _God_ , she was so _so_ fucked.

"Did it ever cross your mind?" Emma almost jumped up from the couch at hearing Regina's voice, and looked at the other woman with a confused look on her face. "What?"

The brunette didn't look her in the eyes. "The idea of us… together… you know, as…"

"As a couple?" Fighting hard to keep her voice from shaking, Emma desperately tried to keep her heartbeat at a normal rate. This was not what she'd been expecting from this evening.

"Yes," Regina said quietly, and, looking down on toher lap, her face turned slightly red.

Emma had already figured that Regina had been highly uncomfortable when the woman at the water park had assumed them to be a couple earlier, and, although she didn't like to admit it, it hurt. Was it really that far fetched? Not to Emma, but, apparently, to the mayor.

For a while, no one said a word, and Emma just intently studied the other woman's face.

Of course, Emma had thought about it; actually, especially recently, she had thought about it quite a lot. Being with Regina felt so normal, so like home and family like nothing before. The other woman just understood, and it was so easy and comfortable and… wow, how had she not realized this any sooner?

She was falling in love with the other mother of her son.

"I… I don't… what is the right answer here? What do you want me to say? Please tell me, Regina, cause I seriously don't know." Well, she knew what she _wanted_ to say, what she wanted to happen, but that was probably not the smartest move in this situation.

Regina liked her, cared about her, at least a bit, but she didn't feel the way Emma did, the blonde was one hundred percent sure about that. The brunette had different priorities right now: she needed to focus on her second child, she shouldn't have to deal with Emma's unasked-for advances.

This whole situation was set up to fail, anyway. So Emma needed to just suck it up, and pretend like she didn't want to spend her life with the other woman. _Damn_ , she was in deep, deep shit.

Regina looked up then, and directly into the other woman's eyes. It took Emma's breath away how beautiful she looked.

It didn't help her breathing when Regina slowly lifted her hand to the blonde's face, gently cupping her cheek. "Emma, I…"

Regina broke off and licked her lips. Her eyes were so big and warm and full of something Emma would like to think was compassion, the sheriff could barely take it. Was this really happening right now, or had she fallen asleep on Regina's couch once more, and was now dreaming vividly?

They were still staring at each other - staring, and staring, and staring some more - when Regina slowly started to close the gap between them; a foot, eight inches, five. Holy _shit_ , this was really happening!

Their faces were so unbelievably close, and Emma was already closing her eyes, when…

"Moms?"

Fucking seriously?

Regina basically jumped away from Emma and up from the couch, before she ran her hands through her hair, and took a deep breath; her fingers were obviously trembling. She avoided looking at Emma like the plague, and, instead, focused on their son in the doorway.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He looked pretty pale and was clenching his tummy.

"I'm feeling sick," he said quietly, pain evident in his voice. The hug his mother gave him was accepted willingly.

"You shouldn't have eaten all those sweets, I told you this would happen," Regina chastised, but her face was all concern and affection.

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled, and at least had the decency to look like he knew he fucked up. Emma didn't know how much he had seen just now - preferably nothing - but she was afraid he was gonna make some great now operation out of this; parent trap 2.0, or something.

"Let me make you some tea and a hot water bottle, that'll help," Regina said, giving her son an affectionate smile, before she went around the couch to go to the kitchen.

"I'm just gonna go, then," Emma said, face a lithic mask. This was a disaster.

"No, Emma, please wait. I…" In a flash, Regina was back in the living room again, face flushed, desperation in her eyes. She, for sure, wasn't one to beg, Emma knew, so this was pretty serious. Regina probably wanted to talk about what had almost, maybe happened, but, right now, Emma was panicking and just needed to wrap her head around the events of the night by herself.

"It's fine. See you tomorrow," the blonde said with a tight smile, before ruffling Henry's hair. "Bye, kid."

 

Once she was sitting in her car outside, she let out a long sigh, while letting her head fall on the steering wheel.

"Shit."


	8. Week 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit people, I'm so, so sorry; I actually forgot to update the story here.   
> I've been sick for a while and there's a lot of stuff I have to do for uni, so everything's a bit of a mess right now. Hope you still enjoy the chapter and I am going to try to update asap (my last exam is on Tuesday, so I'll hopefully be able to update before the weekend next week).
> 
> Trigger warning: Brief mention of suicide.

"Oh my God, _Emma_!"

Upon hearing the other woman's voice basically screeching from the first floor, Emma dropped the dishes she had been doing after their dinner together, and sprinted through the foyer, up the stairs, down the hall, before she burst into the brunette's bedroom.

It wasn't even weird anymore, being in Regina's personal domain. Somehow, it had just become second nature to be around the mayor, to trust her, and have the brunette trust her in return.

"What? What's wrong? What happened?" Emma's voice was almost as high-pitched as Regina's had been only seconds before, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she took in the scene that played out in front of her.

The former queen was standing in front of her floor length mirror, intently staring at her bare bump.

"I have a stretch mark," she declared dryly.

Emma just gaped at her. Not necessarily because the other woman was standing in front of her half naked—although that was an added bonus, of course—but rather because of all the possible scenarios in her head, this had definitely not made the list.

True, lately, Regina had called her for far more ridiculous reasons—to buy peppermint ice cream at 4am on a Sunday morning, to get the latest Nicholas Sparks movie (and then cuddle up while crying her eyes out), or to find organic parsnip so they could try out cooking different baby foods—but this time, Emma had been especially worried that something was wrong.

God, she was _seriously_ whipped.

"Wait… that's it? That's why you're screaming through the whole house, making me think you are up her dying in a pool of your own blood?"

Up until now, the pregnancy had—especially regarding Regina's history when it came to pregnancies—gone incredibly smooth. No bleeding, no pain, not even pregnancy brain. Regina was happier and healthier than ever before, which was almost brutally obvious in the way she talked, walked, and looked.

After the initial gossip once everyone had found out about it, things had quieted down a bit again. Now, everyone—well, nearly everyone—was simply happy for the mayor.

"This is even _worse_!" Regina pouted, actually _pouted_ , and let herself sink onto her huge bed with an audible huff.

"In what world is that worse, woman?" The blonde was ready to give the other woman a piece of her mind. Emergencies included either at least 5 liters of blood, a missing limb, or serious contractions, and, obviously, neither of that was the case here right now.

"I'm fat. And I'll stay fat forever after this. I look like a fat elephant," Regina mumbled, and draped one of her arms over her face, which gave Emma the suspicion that the other woman was probably on the verge of tears.

While, health-wise, everything was smooth sailing, the brunette's emotions were all over the place. She was constantly horny (though they tried to avoid that particular topic), cried over ridiculous tv commercials, and, last week, she had thrown a fit over a bottle of water Emma had forgotten in the kitchen. She was seriously out of control.

"Okay, okay, woah, stop! Listen to me, Regina; listen really, _really_ carefully." Emma punctuated every word, reaching for the mayor's arm and pulling it away from her face. Once she had eye contact, she spoke slowly and resolutely, "You are beautiful. You always have been, and you always will be."

Tears formed in Regina's eyes.

Compliments were a problem as well. Every time someone said something nice to her, she had to fight the waterworks. It was worse than ten Mary Margarets, though, most of the time, Regina at least had the decency to be extremely embarrassed about it.

"And besides, do I look fat to you? Because, as you might remember, I had a baby as well: Henry, 13 now, pretty cute, not sure if you met him yet."

"You're an idiot." Regina laughed, and Emma involuntarily smiled. It was extremely cheesy, but she liked when the other woman laughed; when she was free, and happy, and not overthinking every little detail. She looked different then, younger, more radiant.

Carefully, Emma took a seat on the bed next to the other woman. For a moment, they just remained in silence, each in her own head, before Regina turned her face to look up at Emma.

"Did you get stretch marks?"

Without even thinking twice, Emma gripped the hem of her shirt, effectively pulling it over her head, before she unceremoniously dropped it on the floor next to the bed.

"Wh—what are you doing?" If Emma was actually seeing properly, Regina had turned a traitorous shade of pink, which looked seriously adorable, and the mayor's eyes were quickly darting between Emma's face and Emma's bra-clad breasts. The blonde's heart picked up speed.

"Showing you my stretch marks," she said matter-of-factly, before sinking back onto the bed.

The two women were lying right next to each other now, not even a foot between them. God, Regina's bed was so comfortable. It was like clouds, big and fluffy and ridiculously soft. The sheets felt amazing on Emma's bare back. She could get used to this.

"Oh. Okay," Regina said, and turned onto her side, propping her head on her arm to be able to see the other woman better.

"This one was the first one I got." With her right hand, Emma pointed to a tiny stretch mark a little over her hip bone.

The day she had found out she was pregnant seemed like it was only yesterday. It was all still vivid in her memory; the complete shock, the fear, the desperation.

She hadn't wanted the human being she had been producing to end up like her. He should have a better life, a better family, not a teenager in juvie with no diploma and no opportunities.

Abortion, however, had never even been an option. Sure, she was totally pro-choice and didn't judge any woman for terminating her pregnancy, but she just hadn't been able to do it. She never could.

Every night she had prayed that her child would have it better, that he would end up with a nice family and live happily ever after. Sometimes she had been questioning the validity of her prayers. After all, she wasn't religious, and actually wasn't even sure if God existed at all. But, looking over at Regina, she thought they obviously had not been in vain.

"It was pretty early in the pregnancy, but I was still a kid myself, you know, and the juvie doctor said it was perfectly normal when young girls are having a baby. Makes sense, I guess," she said, while absentmindedly tracing the thin line with one of her fingers.

Although the time in prison definitely had not been the best period of her life, she liked to think back to her pregnancy, especially now that she actually knew her son; now that he was in her life, and she was legitimately raising him together with his other mother.

Apart from the morning sickness, hurting feet and being overly huge, being pregnant had been one of the best experiences ever. For once, she had not been alone. There was someone else there, someone who was literally a part of her, and even though that little person couldn't talk, she had felt connected to him. She had had someone to share her worries and hopes with.

Looking back, it sounded ridiculous, but Henry had given her strength. For him, she had gotten her life back under control. She had finished high school, gotten a job, tried to be a responsible adult. He had saved her. And he had saved Regina as well.

"How was it?" Regina asked, eyes glistening with wonder.

Emma had never really told her much about the pregnancy with Henry, although why exactly, she didn't know. After all, the brunette had shared all her memories of raising their son with his other mother. So telling Regina about her pregnancy really was the least Emma could do for her.

"How was what?"

"Being young, alone, in prison, and pregnant, to top it all off," the older woman said, her eyes full of understanding and empathy.

"It was hard. I wanted to keep him, I really, really wanted to, but it would have never worked out." Emma knew she didn't have to explain herself, that Regina wasn't reproaching her. She knew that Regina knew how hard it had been to give Henry up, after all, she had done the same thing at the town line before Pan's curse hit.

"I mean I know about young and pregnant; I was nineteen when I first… but I had a whole castle full of people to help me with it. I could have never done it alone. Well, it didn't work out anyway. But you already know that," Regina rambled, which was so unlike her, it was endearing.

God, sooner or later Emma would develop diabetes, she was sure of it.

Sometimes, when the young, insecure Regina was shining through, Emma wondered how that woman could ever become the Evil Queen. Of course she knew what had happened to prompt Regina to seek revenge, but now that she actually knew the brunette quite well, she often found herself wondering how these two completely different personalities fitted into one single person.

It worked, though. Somehow, Regina managed to meld the biggest contradictions in herself, which was utterly fascinating. The mayor was such a beautifully complex woman, Emma couldn't even blame herself for falling for her.

"You did do it alone, though. Yeah, you didn't carry Henry, but you raised him, and you did a hell of a job with that. Seriously. I am so glad you happened to him."

It was true. Regina was the best thing that could have possibly happened to their son, and, also, she was probably the best thing that had ever happened to Emma as well.

Finally, the blonde had found someone who understood everything she had been through, someone who helped her cope with it in a healthy way. She didn't want to desperately forget anymore, like she had tried to in the past.

There had been times when she had seriously thought about ending it all, just giving up, and taking the easy way out. But for some reason, she had never actually gone through with it. And now she was glad she didn't.

If she had, she would have never met her son. She would have never found her parents. She would have never gotten to know Regina, who—she was pretty sure—at this point, she was desperately in love with.

And although Regina didn't want the same, she was happy. Just being around the other woman, seeing her so at peace and content was enough.

Emma was used to not being someone's first choice, she had never been, so why should a breathtaking woman like Regina of all people want a former thief, former orphan like the blonde? She just wouldn't.

Being friends, helping the other woman find her happy ending, was enough for now. If Emma could just be around the other woman, she was ok.

"What about that one," Regina said quietly after a moment, while carefully tracing the stretch mark on Emma's right side with her pointer finger.

Emma could feel the softness of Regina's skin, the warmth that eradiated from her, and, just for a moment, she allowed herself to close her eyes and savor the funny feeling the other woman's touch caused in her belly.

It would be so, so nice, being able to always be with Regina just like this; talking, bonding, touching. Not even necessarily touching each other in a sexual way, intimacy could also be platonic. Just connecting with another person on that level, after so may years of meaningless hook ups, one night stands, and alibi relationships, was incredible.

"I had just felt him kick for the first time ever, and the next day this appeared at the exact same spot. I like to think it was because of him kicking, though I know it's ridiculous."

Emma smiled at the memory. Apart from having your baby in your arms for the first time, there was probably nothing better than feeling it kick. It had been only then that the blonde had actually realized she was pregnant. True, the bump had been there, but knowing there was something inside you and actually feeling it move around were two completely different things.

"How does it feel, the baby kicking for the first time?"

"It's a little weird, especially early in the pregnancy; it feels like… like butterflies." Wow, this was seriously the worst description of anything Emma had ever given.

"Butterflies? That sounds beautiful," Regina said, a radiant smile on her face.

"Yeah just wait until he kicks you right in the kidneys; that's when the real fun begins." Emma laughed, but quieted immediately at the look the other woman gave her.

It was a mixture of so many different emotions, Emma didn't dare to make out individual ones, but it seemed serious. It seemed important.

Maybe she mattered to Regina as much as Regina mattered to her. Maybe Regina was feeling butterflies without having the baby kick her guts. Maybe Regina felt something for her as well.

Or maybe Emma was just making that up in her head.

"Thanks for sharing all this with me," Regina whispered, taking the blonde's hand and dragging it over her ever-growing bump, before she rolled onto side, effectively making Emma the big spoon.


	9. Week 18

It was an early Tuesday evening in mid-April, and Emma was just parking the cruiser in front of 108 Mifflin. Henry, who was out camping in the woods with David, because the weather was uncharacteristically warm at the moment, had sent her a text message earlier asking her to check on his other mother.

Ever since the brunette was pregnant, Henry was extremely worried that something might happen to the mayor; Emma thought it was really cute.

With the key Regina had given her a few weeks back, the blonde opened the big, white front door. Once inside, Emma took off her boots—Regina had successfully conditioned her to do so—and put them next to the door, before she climbed up the first few steps getting her to the main level.

She knew Regina was home, because the black Benz was parked in the driveway and the semi-high heels Emma knew for a fact the other woman had worn today were currently standing right next to Emma's own shoes.

After checking both the study and the living room, she went on to look in the kitchen, but the other woman was still nowhere to be found. So she grabbed one of the apples from the bowl on the counter, taking a bite, before she went back into the grand foyer and up the stairs to see if Regina was taking a nap in her room or—in a rather undesirable case—lying unconscious in the bathroom.

She was halfway down the hall when she heard a sound from the room at the end that made her blood run cold. Regina was in pain. Maybe she really had collapsed, and was now unable to reach her phone to call someone for help.

Emma's heartbeat was considerably faster, and panic was creeping up on her, so she basically sprinted the rest of the way, dropping the apple in the process, and burst through the door to Regina's room.

Ready to give the Heimlich, CPR, or whatever else it was the other woman needed, she stopped dead in her tracks when she actually got a look at the brunette.

In front of her on the bed, Regina was lying on her back, completely naked apart from a semi-transparent black bra, and a hand between tan thighs. Oh.

"Oh my _God_! Shit, Regina, I'm so sorry," Emma exclaimed, and Regina almost jumped from the bed, eyes wide.

As fast as she could, she tried to cover herself with the thin throw, but that did little to help erase the picture probably permanently burned into Emma's brain—a bare Regina pleasuring herself. _Holy shit_.

"I'm just gonna… go and… yeah, see ya…" Emma stuttered while turning to leave, face burning red.

"No, Emma, wait! Please…" Regina pleaded and awkwardly got up from the bed, thin throw loosely draped around her body. "Don't leave, I…" She looked down onto the floor, hands nervously fidgeting in front of her belly. One deep breath, and then she lifted her gaze.

"Will you sleep with me?"

" _What?_ " This was it; Emma was completely crazy now and just hearing things that no one had ever actually said.

The blonde's brain was completely empty. Mouth repeatedly opening and closing, she just gaped at the woman in front of her, who's cheeks were slightly red.

"Sorry, that was absolutely inappropriate. Of course, you don't have to—I'm just so, _so_ horny, and… _God_ , this is really out of line, just forget about it," the brunette rambled, evidently embarrassed, while she turned away from Emma to make her way into the en-suite.

"Yes."

The brunette wheeled around. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, I will sleep with you," Emma said, even more determined than before.

If she was honest, she had wanted to bed the other woman ever since they had first faced each other at the door of the mansion all those years ago. While she generally wasn't one for one night stands and meaningless hook ups, fucking that smug 'I'm so much better than you, Miss Swan'-expression from the mayor's face had been serious wet dream material.

But there had been reasons not to do it. Serious, grave reasons. For starters, Emma had been sure that Regina was about ten thousand percent straight. All the suggestive looks and comments were just an act to completely drive the blonde insane and fuck with her head. Regina was a complete psychopath. Regina was her boss, kind of. Regina was the mother of her son. She was in love with Regina.

Rationally, this right here was probably a really, _really_ bad idea, but, truthfully, Emma was way past the point of caring. Regina was offering, and who was Emma to deny her release. She had vowed to give the brunette a happy ending—and this was a start.

"Oh," the former queen breathed, mouth a perfect circle. "We can turn the light off, if you want to; I'm not exactly attractive right now."

"Regina, stop. You're beautiful," Emma said, and she meant it. "You are the single most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life, and, pregnant, you're even more breathtaking."

The brunette averted her gaze, cheeks a light pink, but Emma didn't want to give up convincing the other woman just yet. "I'm serious, Regina. I wish you could see what I see."

However, the other woman just shrugged it off and climbed onto the bed, halting in the middle, still on her hand and knees. "I'm just going to stay like this, so you don't have to see me." Emma rolled her eyes at the stubborn woman.

"Didn't you hear what I literally just said? You're so hot. And if we are really going to do this, I want to see you; all of you, okay?"

Regina visibly tensed and then relaxed again, until she slowly sank back onto her heels, before slipping off of the bed completely to stand in front of it. Eyes big, and brown, and beautiful, she simply looked at the blonde in front of her.

Then, Emma finally kissed the other woman.

It was unbelievable, all soft, full lips and carefully exploring tongues, and the blonde wasn't sure how she had survived without this for thirty years. This kiss felt so right, so much like home, Emma was surprised she didn't hear the angels sing.

Carefully, she laid the other woman back on the bed and climbed onto her, effectively straddling her thighs.

For a moment she just looked at the truly glorious sight in front of her—full breasts in an almost transparent dark bra, perfectly soft skin, round belly—absentmindedly tracing Regina's collarbone with her finger, before she leaned back down to kiss the other woman.

With one hand carefully caressing Regina's left breast, her mouth slowly travelled from Regina's mouth to her throat, along between her breasts, and then over her belly down to where she had touched herself minutes ago.

Because, from what Emma had seen when she had first entered the room, Regina was probably way past the point of foreplay, she shifted her position so she was in between parted legs, her head resting on the brunette's left thigh.

"God, you're beautiful," Emma breathed when she laid eyes on the other woman's middle. "Is it okay if I use my mouth?"

Unable to say anything, Regina just nodded.

Lying between the brunette's legs was a completely overwhelming experience. Emma could both smell and see Regina's arousal glistening on the small patch of dark locks. With two fingers, she carefully reached out to spread the other woman's wet folds, and had to suppress a moan at the sight.

This was really happening.

Slowly, Emma inched her face closer to Regina's middle, before her tongue first made contact with the brunette's clit. The sensation was incredible, and the sheriff had to pull herself together in order to not come right on the spot with her wildest dreams coming true and all.

Regina apparently enjoyed it as well, at least judging by the way her whole body shuddered, and she uttered several low moans that were most definitely the sexiest thing Emma had ever heard.

When Emma kept on playing with the other woman's clit—circling it with her tongue, sucking on it, carefully using her teeth—Regina's moans got significantly louder, while her whole body strained toward Emma.

The whole thing was one big haze of sounds, smells, and touches, and Emma loved every second of it.

In fact, Regina's low moans and earthy smell turned her on to a point where she couldn't take it anymore, so she sneaked her own left hand into her pants, imagining it was Regina's pleasuring her.

She almost cringed at how wet she was, but, then again, it wasn't really a surprise, because, at the moment, she was tongue-fucking the hottest woman on the planet, who also happened to make the sexiest sounds possible in bed.

"You taste so good," Emma declared when she detached from Regina's hole for a second, before latching right back on, sucking the brunette's clit in her mouth.

"Can you…" Regina started, but was interrupted by a moan coming from deep in her throat. Emma understood, though, so she pulled the fingers of her left hand out of her own pants, and instead buried one deep in Regina. The other woman shuddered in pleasure.

"Mmh, yes," she murmured, and the blonde was certain she would explode once Regina orgasmed.

"Oh, Emma…" Regina's voice was pure porn.

Still, Emma stopped for a second, because although the other woman's moans suggested she was enjoying this even more than Emma, the sheriff wanted to make sure Regina really wanted this. She looked up and caught the other woman's eyes, staring down at her questioningly.

"Is this alright?"

Normally, she was a little selfish when it came to sex. Although she wasn't really a pillow princess, her own pleasure was highly important to her, but right now, she didn't care about it at all. This was about Regina; about making Regina feel attractive, and cherished, and loved.

"Mhm… more…" the brunette moaned, while letting her head fall back onto the bed, and blindly reached out one hand, which Emma took without thinking, before she intertwined their fingers. It was a connection, a promise that this wasn't just a quick shag, proof that they actually understood each other.

So Emma added another finger and put her mouth on a swollen clit again, and Regina groaned and moaned her name.

She was louder in bed than Emma had imagined her to be in her countless daydreams, but it was really hot, so she couldn't complain—and why would she, anyway.

A few moments later, Regina came hard all over Emma's hand and mouth.

Eagerly, she licked off most of it, before climbing up the brunette's body and giving her a slow, intense kiss.

Although she herself didn't come, this was definitely her most cherished sexual experience. It beat Ruby, and Victoria, and even that hot friends with benefits chick from her freshman year in college who had first given her anal.

Emma laid back onto her back and pulled Regina into her side, affectionately brushing a lost strand of hair out of the mayor's flushed face.

"You're breathtaking, Regina," she whispered, before she gave her another soft kiss.

The big, brown eyes were back once more and stared at her in awe. So many different, antagonizing feeling were swirling inside them and Emma almost got lost, but then there were tears, and Regina was crying, and it was horrible. Emma's blood froze.

Oh God, she had done something wrong, she had ruined what she and Regina had had, she had screwed up big time.

Not sure, if it would actually make the whole situation better or even worse, she pulled the other woman into her arms completely, engulfing her in a protective hug.

Emma was slightly desperate, because this wasn't the reaction you expected after sleeping with someone for the first time. More to the point, this wasn't a reaction you ever wanted to evoke in someone.

"Hey, what's going on? Did I do something wrong; say something, please?"

The brunette didn't, however, and instead silently kept on crying against Emma's neck.

"Regina, talk to me please," the blonde tried again, while carefully stroking the other woman's hair in a desperate attempt to calm her somehow.

"You… you're so good to me. I don't deserve all this…"

Emma seriously wondered how such a smart person could believe such a stupid thing.

"Look at me. You deserve everything; _everything_. All the things you've ever dreamed of, you deserve it all."

This made Regina cry even more. _Crap_.

"And just so you know, this wasn't some kind of pity lay. I should count myself lucky to be able to have experienced this. You are so special, Regina, you mean so much to me. Never forget that." Emma punctuated her speech with another kiss to Regina's lips, before the two cuddled up again, drifting off to sleep in the safety of each other's arms.

* * *

 

Emma woke with a start. It was pitch-black outside, and the only light was provided by the shining numbers of the alarm clock on Regina's nightstand.

3.27 am.

She knew this was wrong, she knew she should fight her instincts, because Regina was worth so much more than the blonde just leaving after sleeping with her. It would send the wrong signals, she was indeed aware of this fact, and she hated herself for carefully disentangling herself from the other woman's grip, and getting up to gather her discarded clothing.

After she had quickly dressed herself, already standing in the doorframe, she looked back at the soundly sleeping brunette on the bed that seemed much too big for only a single person.

The massive lump in the pit of her stomach only grew as she stepped over the threshold into the hallway, carefully closing the door. Tears were running down the sheriff's cheeks, because she was certain this would be what finally and completely wrecked what had developed between Regina and her.


	10. Week 20

It was weird, not being around Regina all the time.

Emma missed their bantering, the easy domestic routine they had somehow fallen into, just having someone to share with.

Being with Regina had become so much second nature that she wasn’t functioning properly without the other woman. She didn’t sleep, had no appetite, and felt generally awful about how she had handled the situation.

She had made a huge mistake, she had realized that about five seconds after closing the mansion’s front door behind her, but she just didn't know how to fix it, although that was all she wanted.

Regina hadn’t even tried to call her, but, to be fair, neither had Emma. It was just that she was so incredibly scared that she had done something she could not come back from.

It scared her shitless.

Emma had seen the other woman a few times over the last week and a half. Actually, she was actively on watch for her. It wasn’t like she was stalking or anything, she just wanted to make sure Regina was okay (which, obviously, she wasn't really).

Every day, Henry had to give the blonde a precise report about how the mayor was doing—unsurprisingly not too great, actually, which, of course, was totally Emma’s fault, and she knew it.

God, she was such a goddamn idiot.

There was no valid explanation for why she had run in the first place, nothing to justify her actions, only her complete and utter stupidity.

Running away from good things in her life was a nasty habit she apparently just could not manage to shake.

She knew she should be there for Regina, instead of doing whatever it was she was doing at the moment, because the brunette was alone, and pregnant, and also the woman Emma loved.

How _the hell_ could she fuck up so bad all the time?

When she had effectively ruined Regina’s happy ending with her soulmate, or true love, or whatever that dimwitted forest hobo was supposed to be, by accidentally bringing Marian back from he dead, she had thought that was it, rock bottom. But, no, apparently, she could do even worse. Congratu- _fucking_ -lations, idiot.

So she had basically just been hating herself these past few days, mixed with the occasional silly ray of hope.

A few times she had thought about using Henry to make Regina forgive her, but that wasn't fair. Then she had considered bribing Regina with food, but that wasn't enough by a long shot to compensate for how bad she had screwed up (again). She had even tried to write Regina a letter, because, normally, that worked better for her than talking, but she had doffed the idea after a few failed attempts.

 

_Dear Regina,_   
_I didn’t mean to run_

 

_Dear Regina,_   
_I am sorry_

 

_Dear Regina,_   
_I love you_

 

This was hopeless. Plus, why should Regina ever forgive her, anyway? Obviously, she was better off without the blonde, who just kept hurting her, albeit unintentionally.

Regina didn't need her, she never had. It was just Emma’s stupid head and its wishful thinking that had brought her to the false conclusion that Regina might be as lost without her as the blonde was without the other woman.

Maybe she should try to bring Robin back to make Regina happy. Maybe she should leave town to not hurt Regina anymore. Maybe she should just call Regina and beg for her forgiveness, because she knew she couldn't possibly live with any of the other two possibilities.

Taking a deep breath, she got her personal phone out of her pocket, unlocked it, and opened her contact list (which she didn't necessarily need, because she knew Regina’s number inside out).

She was intently staring down at the phone in her hands, pondering if she should finally get over herself and just call Regina, apologize, and hope she would be forgiven.

Or maybe she should just drive over to the mansion and tell the brunette in person; just tell her everything, all of it—I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry, I love you.

It was then—somewhere between trying to gather the courage to spill the beans, and being sure that she would take all this to her grave with her—that the phone in Emma’s hand started to ring.

The caller id said “Royal Pain in My Ass,” because, once upon a time, when the mayor had still been only annoying, and bossy, and utterly horrible, it had seemed extremely funny, and Emma had never actually found the time to change it. Maybe she should do that as soon as possible.

“Regina?”

The fact that the brunette was calling her, that she had caved in, seemed awfully suspicious to the blonde, because, normally, it was always her who came around, eventually. Regina was simply too stubborn, too proud, even when she knew she was wrong. She never caved, which drove Emma mad ninety-five percent of the time.

She had learned that the hard way: one time, the mayor had ignored her for a week straight because she had brought regular broccoli home from the store instead of organic one (which the brunette had never once specifically mentioned). Regina called that persistence, Emma called it irrational, and Henry just rolled his eyes and smiled at both his mothers like he knew something they didn’t.

The other end of the line was still silent, and Emma already thought it was a butt dial or something, when she heard it; Regina was crying (well, rather trying to stop to cry to actually get some words out).

It scared the shit out of the sheriff.

“Emma, I—I’m bleeding,” Regina finally all but whispered, and the blonde hoped she didn’t hear correctly, but the woman on the other end didn't continue; all Emma could hear was her soft sniffling.

Without even answering, or ending the call, or thinking, for that matter, the blonde jumped up from her desk at the station, and ran to the car parked outside.

Breaking about every traffic rule there was (because who would arrest her, she was the fucking sheriff after all), she was at the mansion in record time.

There was an ambulance standing in the driveway, back door open, and a paramedic busy with doing something Emma had no clue about.

She parked the cruiser halfway on the street, and barely remembered to actually turn it off, before she got out and hurried up the path toward the door, which was standing wide open.

Against what Regina was still trying to teach her and Henry—“No running in the house!”—she took two steps at a time up the stairs and jogged down the hallway to the room at the end, which she hadn't set a foot in since she had had sex with Regina in there about one and a half weeks ago.

Once she entered the bedroom, she couldn’t—or rather didn't want to—believe her eyes.

It looked horrible, like the scene you woke up to when your period hit out of nowhere—but in the World War II battlefield version. There was so much blood, particularly visible on the white sheets and covers, it made Emma’s stomach turn.

She had done this, this had happened due to her behavior. If she hadn’t just left Regina, this wouldn't have happened, Emma was sure of it. She was the reason Regina was losing the baby. _Oh God._

The blonde found the other woman in the ensuite, where another paramedic was measuring what Emma supposed was the brunette’s blood pressure.

There was some more blood here as well, and, regarding the sheer amount of it Regina must have lost, Emma wondered how she was even still alive, let alone conscious (not that she was complaining).

For a moment, she just looked at the other woman from where she was leaning against the doorway. Regina looked so small, so fragile, and broken sitting on the floor, back against the side of the bathtub.

She must have somehow sensed the blonde’s presence, because, out of nowhere, she looked up, and directly into the sheriff’s eyes.

“Emma.”

It was barely a whisper.

The blonde’s heart broke.

There were visible tear tracks on the mayor’s cheeks, her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked so, so defeated and small, guilt pooled in the pit of Emma’s stomach.

“Regina, I’m so, so sorry, this is all my fault. I’m sorry, I don't want you to lose the baby, please. I’m really sorry, I—” the blonde rambled, unable to wrap her head around what was happening.

This couldn't be real, Regina couldn't lose the baby. This baby was their chance. True, it wasn't actually Emma’s, but what did it matter? The baby had brought them together, even more so than Henry had.

“It’s not your fault,” Regina mumbled. She looked pale and tired, which coincided with the amount of blood currently decorating her bedroom.

“I’m sorry I ran after… you know,” she hinted, because she didn’t really want the paramedic, who was still in the ensuite with them (and who looked rather interested in their conversation), to know what happened in the adjacent master bedroom less than two weeks ago.

Looking from the blonde to the paramedic, Regina fake-coughed, and the guy almost jumped.

“We’re going to take you to the hospital for a thorough exam, Mayor Mills. I will get the gurney,” he said, before he left with another pointed look at Emma.

Without a word, the sheriff dropped onto the floor next to Regina, who turned her face to look at the other woman.

They were a mere foot apart, and Emma wondered how Regina could possibly stay this calm.

“It’s my fault; I shouldn’t have pushed you to it.”

Emma would’ve laughed if the situation hadn't been that serious.

“That’s bullshit. I wanted it as well, but I was the one who just left afterward.”

“But you are here now,” Regina said, completely exhausted, as she reached for the blonde’s hand, a weak smile on her lips.

Quickly, Emma intertwined their fingers, and used her other hand to carefully stroke the mayor’s cheek.

“Of course I am, where else would I be,” she pointed out, before she leaned in to kiss Regina’s temple, and pulled her close.


	11. Week 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh God, people, I'm so, so sorry that this took me ages to upload, but I was super busy with uni, had to go back to the hospital, and I was also kind of stuck with some parts (fucking writer's block, seriously!). I hope you're still reading and enjoying this story, and I really appreciate all the comments and follows and everything. I'm gonna try to upload the next chapter faster than this one, but I can't promise anything. And now enjoy some angst and fluff and the two ladies who are so gonna be canon on the show, I can't even. xx

It was the next day, and Emma was sitting on one of those extremely uncomfortable chairs apparently every hospital had to make the time you had to spend there even worse.

In the bed to her right lay Regina, pale, exhausted, and a complete emotional mess.

While there luckily hadn't been any more blood, and an ultrasound had at least let them hear the baby's heart sounds, the doctors had wanted to run some more tests, just to make sure the baby wasn't actually in danger of dying anymore. For now, everything seemed to be alright.

Emma had probably never been more relieved in her whole life.

She had spent the night at the hospital as well, because she didn't want to leave Regina alone, especially after _this_ had happened as a result of the last time.

Yes, she felt guilty. Although it probably wasn't, she still thought it was her fault that Regina had almost lost the baby. If she hadn't run, if she hadn't caused the brunette heartache, who knew if this would've happened.

Emma hadn't really slept, which was partly due to her guilt and worry, and partly the doing of that horrible, horrible chair she was sitting in.

But Regina had gotten some much needed rest, and for Emma that was about ten thousand times more important than her own wellbeing at the moment.

Or ever, really.

Somehow, the other mother of her son had assumed a role in the Emma's life that justified putting the brunette first. Maybe it had to do with the whole savior thing, maybe it was just what you did when you were head over heels in love with someone (because how was the blonde supposed to know how that felt), or maybe she was just completely insane.

At the end of the day, Regina was simply important to her.

She wasn't sure if, now that she was back in the picture, things would be just as before, if Regina still wanted her around in situations that weren't life or death, but she sure hoped so.

They had had sex, for God's sake, and then Emma had just abandoned the other woman (a decision which she still couldn't explain properly).

Regina seemed to be able to read her mind—maybe she actually could, Emma thought, and she was quick to think of something else, just in case—because she cleared her throat.

"Are we going to... talk about what happened?"

"We should, shouldn't we," the blonde hesitantly answered, giving the other woman a nervous little smile.

After gathering her thoughts for a moment, Regina formulated her first question.

"Why did you leave?"

 _Dammit_ , straight to the point.

"I... I don't know, actually," Emma answered, and wanted to slap herself for how stupid that sounded.

Obviously, her behavior had hurt Regina, and that there was no legit reason to it whatsoever made it even worse.

She definitely needed to work on this issue, especially since all she actually wanted was to be with Regina, not run away from her.

"Do you think it was a mistake?"

"Leaving?"

"No, what we did... before that," Regina asked quietly, avoiding Emma's eyes.

For a moment, it was completely silent in the small hospital room.

Truth to be told, Emma didn't know what to say. Of course she didn't think it had been a mistake, how could she, but did Regina see it the same way?

Yes, the brunette had, more or less, initiated the whole thing, but Emma knew how irrational pregnancy hormones made a woman. Maybe Regina had just needed some scratching for an excruciating itch, and Emma had been available at that moment.

Even if that was the case, though, it had already happened, so there was no changing the situation anyway. Either they'd made a step in the right direction, or everything they had achieved when it came to improving their relationship would come crashing down sooner or later. Emma seriously hoped option one was true.

"No," she said, and Regina's eyes—big, brown, and full of surprise—snapped up to meet hers.

"Really?"

"Really," the blonde assured, and squeezed a tan hand, which she had practically been holding nonstop since the ambulance had brought them to the hospital. "You should know by now that I'm not lying to you, Regina."

"But sometimes you're not telling me everything," Regina responded, and Emma's heart skipped a beat.

Did the brunette _know_? Had she somehow figured out what Emma was feeling? But she had been so, so careful to not let her feelings show, hadn't she? She had played the protective best friend, the supportive co-parent, and she had also slept with the brunette. Shit.

"W-what?"

This couldn't be happening, Regina _couldn't_ know, because—she just couldn't. She wasn't supposed to just figure it out on her own, and then be all calm and understanding about it, and tell Emma it was okay, but she still only liked her as a friend.

"Like when you wanted to take Henry back to New York. You didn't tell me," Regina finally clarified, and the stone that fell from Emma's heart was about as big as three blue whales, a minivan, and a handful of puppies.

God, this woman would surely be the death of her one day.

"I wouldn't have done it, anyway," Emma admitted, somewhat meek, because she didn't really want to tell Regina about all this; sometimes it was better if the other woman didn't know everything.

"Why not?"

Because I couldn't live without you, she thought, but said, "because Henry couldn't live without you," instead. _Coward_.

Regina, apparently, called bullshit, though. "He didn't even remember me then," she said, confused, and a little suspicious.

Inside Emma's head, there was an actual war going on: on the one hand, she wanted to tell the other woman everything, because—even though she wasn't exactly lying about anything—Regina deserved to know, and maybe, just maybe, this whole thing wouldn't turn out to be a complete train wreck after all, so she took a deep breath.

"But I did."

"What do you mean?"

In a moment of crazy confidence (well, probably rather complete insanity), she clarified her statement. "I couldn't live without you either."

Because she couldn't gauge Regina's reaction in the least, Emma lifted her gaze and peered directly into the other woman's eyes, her heart pounding like crazy. The brunette looked genuinely surprised.

"Oh."

For a moment, the mayor's face remained unmoved, mouth perfectly round, and, internally, Emma completely panicked. Oh God, she had screwed up. She had completely misread every sign she thought the other woman had been sending her way. Fuck, fuck, _fuck_.

Then, however, Regina's face lit up with one of the biggest smiles Emma had ever seen on the other woman, and in this moment she knew she had to tell her. The brunette had to know the truth, fuck the consequences.

"Regina, I—," she began, only seconds away from either spilling the beans or a serious heart attack, when the door to the room opened, and Dr. Andersen entered.

Fucking _seriously_?

"Miss Mills, how are you doing?"

It took Regina a moment to answer, because she was still staring at Emma, as if trying to magic the rest of the blonde's answer right out of her head.

"I'm alright, thank you," she said, after she had given the savior one more pointed look. For sure, this wasn't over.

"Good, good. Are you, or have you been, experiencing any pain?"

Regina shook her head.

"Great," the doctor said, definitely way too cheerfully for the liking of someone who didn't get nearly enough sleep the previous night.

"So, what is the status quo now? What about the baby?"

"He is doing as good as can be expected under the circumstances."

Both women's jaws simultaneously dropped.

" _He_?"

Dr. Andersen's eyes went wide.

"Oh, I am sorry. I wasn't aware that you didn't know the sex yet," the doctor was quick to apologize, but Emma barely registered her presence anymore.

All she saw was the brunette woman lying in the bed next to her, tears in her eyes.

Emma knew for a fact that Regina didn't really care too much about the baby's sex, they both didn't, actually, because, especially concerning the mayor's history with pregnancies, the most important thing was health (though they would still love the baby to bits, even if the he or she had some disease or genetic defect).

Good Lord, Emma seriously needed to stop thinking in terms of "our baby." Sure, she had vowed to help Regina with the new addition to this big, highly complicated thing that was the Swan-Mills-Charming-Gold-whoever-else-was-involved family, but they weren't married, hell, they weren't even a couple or anything. Tune it down, Swan.

"I... it's fine, don't worry," Regina said, tight smile on her lips.

Obviously, it wasn't fine, but the brunette was still a politician (and, once upon a time, had been a queen), so putting a good face on the matter was definitely one of her strong suits.

"Anyway, like I said, he is doing okay, but, to prevent any more bleeding or other complications, you are under strict bed rest as of right now."

"But I…," Regina immediately tried to argue. Dr. Andersen, however, wasn't having it.

"I know you are a busy woman, Madame Mayor, and I won't prevent you from doing your paperwork, but you should strictly avoid standing and walking."

"So I have to stay here for the next 20 weeks? You cannot be serious!"

The look on her face was one of absolute horror, and, in search for some support, she turned to Emma to urge her to do something about this.

Before the blonde could take any action, however, the doctor continued.

"That would be one option, yes, but I would also be willing to let you go home. Under the condition that you have someone there with you who takes care of you."

Now it was Dr. Andersen who looked over to the sheriff.

"I don't…" Regina started, but didn't get to finish her desperate protest.

"She's going home," Emma declared confidently, before she could completely think the whole thing through.

"Pardon?"

Regina snapped her head back to stare at the blonde fast enough one could hear her neck crack.

Somehow, this idea had sounded better in Emma's head.

"I'm just gonna move into the mansion. Only if you're okay with that, of course! But I thought you would be up for that rather than for staying here for ages. Plus, let's face it, I spent so much time at your place, I was basically living there already," Emma elaborated, and desperately hoped she wasn't taking things a step too far right now.

It was true, though, she had spent most of her time at Regina's place in the past weeks, and she would be lying if she said she hadn't been enjoying every second of it. It had felt like home, like family and belonging, and she didn't want that to change. She wanted Regina.

"O-okay."

It was a few hours later when they finally made it to the mansion.

Emma had had another talk with the doctor, just to make sure she would be doing everything right when taking care of the other woman, instead of making the situation even worse.

This included that she was hellbent on not letting Regina move any more than strictly necessary—which basically meant to the ensuite of her bedroom and back.

"I'm gonna carry you," she therefore declared once she had caught up with the brunette inside the grand foyer (Regina had basically jumped out of the car once they'd reached the mansion, and Emma had been to baffled to stop her from entering the house on her own).

"Emma, don't be ridiculous," Regina tried to argue, because, after all, she was still the feisty, headstrong, pain-in-the-ass woman Emma had met all those years ago.

"You don't be ridiculous, you heard what the doctor said."

"Emma, I—," Regina started, but interrupted herself with a surprised squeal when Emma picked her up bridal start to carry her up the stairs.

"Do you need anything?" Emma asked, standing around the room a little awkwardly after she had carefully laid Regina down onto the bed.

"Will you stay with me?"

"I already told you I would move in here and take care of you," the blonde assured again.

At this point in time, Regina should really know that she had her back, no matter what. She called the blonde in the middle of the night, drunk off her ass to tell her about that one maid back in the Enchanted Forest who gave the best head ever? Of course Emma would listen to Regina's rambling until they both fell asleep on the line. Regina had vandalized Blue's car and was in danger of getting caught? Obviously Emma would give her an alibi. She had killed Hook because he had finally managed to take it a step too far? Sure thing she was gonna help chop him up into little pieces and scatter them all over Storybrooke.

"No, I meant right now. Will you lie in bed with me?"

 _Oh_.

"Ehm, yeah, sure," Emma stammered, actually not sure if this was truly a good idea, or it would backfire big time. Being with Regina, being close to Regina, always did _things_ to Emma. Things she couldn't fully explain, things that lead to other things, and feelings, and all sorts of weird thoughts and daydreams.

She shouldn't get into that bed; she really, _really_ shouldn't.

But because it was Regina, and Emma's brain seemed to stop functioning properly whenever the other woman so much as asked her for something, she awkwardly took off her shoes, before she climbed onto the huge mattress.

They lay next to each other on their backs for a while, not touching, not talking, until Regina finally broke the silence.

"Can you hold me?"

Somehow, the question wasn't at all weird, not anymore, at least.

Without a word, Emma just opened her arms, and motioned for the brunette next to her to cuddle up, which lead to Regina basically leaping into the blonde's arms, engulfing the other woman into a bone crushing hug.

Sometimes, Emma still couldn't believe they were at this point now, openly showing affection for each other, being able to touch the other one without having reservations or feeling embarrassed. It was just so different from what the sheriff would have ever expected to happen between them.

"I like when you're all cuddly and needy, it's like you're a completely different person," the blonde remarked, pushing her luck by pressing a soft kiss to Regina's hair.

This whole situation was so nauseatingly domestic, Emma was asking herself if they were actually married already and she had just lost her memories about it.

"Oh, don't underestimate me, dear. I'll still light you on fire, if need be," Regina warned with her authoritative I'm-the-Evil-Queen-and-I'll-whoop-your-sorry-ass voice, but her eyes were sparkling, and she had to fight a grin, so Emma was pretty sure she wasn't actually in acute danger of being fried on a stick at the moment.

"Of course," she agreed instead, tone teasing.

Regina only grinned at her, before she put her head back on the blonde's shoulder, and they both just lay in each other's arms.

The brunette's lips were basically touching the other woman's neck, which Emma was acutely aware of.

She thought back to their night together, when Regina's lips had been attacking her neck, sucking, nibbling, bruising. God, how she wished she could experience that again.

"You were going to say something. In the hospital, before the doctor came in," Regina quietly said at some point, effectively breaking the silence. Emma tensed.

Oh no. No no no no no no no _no_. Abort, abort right _fucking_ now.

"Oh, that. It was nothing."

Better nip this conversation in the bud before it could turn into something that was too big to control.

They could talk about the baby instead. Or grilled cheese. Or hideous bird pictures. Anything.

"Are you sure?"

Sometimes Emma seriously hated how perceptive the other woman was.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I don't know, it's stupid, really," Emma sighed, and lifted the one arm that wasn't holding Regina to cover her face with her hand. This was going to be a complete disaster.

"I'm sure it's not," Regina assured, and, seriously, this woman was too good for this world.

When she was like this, all lovely, and understanding, and supportive, Emma seriously forgot that, in another realm, at another time, this exact woman had been the much feared and passionately hated Evil Queen.

"No, it's not," the blonde admitted.

God, she just wanted to disappear. This whole situation was such a disaster.

"What is it, Emma? You're starting to worry me."

Regina's forehead was crinkled, and she studied Emma with that look on her face, that look that—to Emma—appeared a lot like affection. Like genuine concern, and empathy, and love, and Emma just couldn't take this. It seemed to be so easy, it should be, but, actually, it wasn't.

"It's nothing bad. Well, okay, depends, actually."

Way to be less cryptic, Emma, good job.

"On what?"

"On you," Emma admitted.

"Me? I'm sorry, I'm a little lost here."

"Just forget about it," she almost begged, letting out another exasperated sigh.

"I definitely won't."

Of course the brunette had to make this extra hard on Emma; with her, there was always some sort of confrontation, arguing about this or that, because, of course, Regina always had to get things her way.

Normally, Emma would give her whatever it was the other woman wanted, no questions asked, but not now. She wasn't ready to spill everything, not right now.

It wasn't that she necessarily wanted to desperately keep her feelings for the mother of her son a secret anymore, on the contrary, she kind of wanted Regina to know (and hopefully return them), but she was still bad with emotions, and had abandonment issues, and didn't want to ruin the best thing in her life at the moment.

"Regina, please," Emma almost pleaded.

She didn't want to talk about this, she didn't want Regina to wear her down until she finally gave in and told her. Instead, she wanted her confession to be this big romantic thing, well, at least as romantic as it got considering she and Regina were involved (because, obviously, they both kind of sucked when it came to anything that involved love and the like).

"Don't you trust me?"

At this point, Emma knew she would lose this argument, no matter what.

"I do, but..."

"Then tell me," Regina deadpanned, tracing random patterns on Emma's bare forearm with one of her fingers.

It felt good, and it was extremely distracting. For a second, Emma allowed herself to close her eyes to fully savour the other woman's touch. Honestly, she could so get used to this.

With Regina everything was easy, which was really ridiculous regarding everything they had fought over. But they had somehow gotten their act together; at least to a point where they actually, genuinely liked each other. Or maybe they just had, somewhere deep down inside.

"I should call Henry. I bet he's wondering how you're doing, and when we're gonna come pick him up from Snow's place."

"Emma! _Emma_ ," Regina called out, but Emma pretended she didn't hear it, and, instead, closed the door behind her.

God, she was such a coward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more thing! You're gonna hate me for this, but when I first wrote the chapter I had Emma actually confess her feelings, but then decided to take that out again, because it just didn't feel right, you know? However, what I wanna say with this: hang in there, people, it's gonna happen!


	12. Week 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this took me a while (sorry!), but it's more than 6,000 words, so I guess that makes up for the wait (at least a little).
> 
> Also, I forgot to mention last time: If you haven't seen/read it already, a while back I wrote a Swan Queen AU oneshot where Emma is a stripper, Regina is one of her customers, and more happens from there. It's called Private Dancer, check it out if you want to.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter, and be so nice to leave me a comment or something.
> 
> xx

“How about Humphrey?” Emma asked, peaking over the cover of _Cool Names For Babies_.

They were lying side by side on the boxspring in the master bedroom, each more or less interestedly skimming through a book on baby names.

To be completely honest, Emma had been kind of surprised that Regina wasn't just going to call the baby Daniel, but then she remembered baby Neal, and realized that naming babies after ex-boyfriends was maybe not the best idea ever.

“Definitely not. If I wanted my child to be ridiculed on a regular basis, I could just put him into one of those ludicrous onesies,” the brunette shot back, and rolled her eyes in that special Regina way that made you feel like you’re an idiot, but an idiot that she liked, at least.

“I think it’s a cute name,” Emma tried to argue half-heartedly, because if Regina didn’t like something, it was highly unlikely that anything or anyone would make her, and, after all, this was still her child, and hers alone.

“You also think videos of kittens are the most adorable thing on earth.”

Although the pregnancy had made Regina a lot softer, and prone to emotions in general (she had cried over a jar of pickles a few days back), she was still the master of sass and witty comebacks, which was actually quite refreshing, when they weren’t laced with venom, insults, and attempts of poisoning you.

“Oh shut up. You watch puppy videos on YouTube!”

“That is a lie,” Regina gasped, and swatted Emma’s upper arm in what the blonde supposed to be half legit astonishment, and half mock indignation.

“No, it’s not; I saw your browser history.”

The blonde was impossibly smug, because she knew that, if there was such a thing as winning in this, she had definitely won this round. True, the kid might not be named Humphrey, but still. Small victories.

“I hate you,” Regina mumbled, but the smile on her face betrayed her. They were way past that stage, anyway.

“No, you don’t. You totally love me!”

It took Emma a second to realize what she had said, and then another one to blush furiously. _Fuck_.

While a comment like that might normally pass as harmless banter among best friends, with the two of them it seemed a little more loaded—not least because Emma actually _did_ love the brunette, and hoped to have her feelings returned one day.

Emma looked at the book in her hands with newfound interest, at all costs avoiding to look at Regina, and making this situation even more awkward than it already was.

The mayor wasn't helping. “I…”

“I mean… I’m basically your personal slave at the moment, so stop complaining,” Emma finally came up with something that wasn't dangerous territory for them. However, she still didn't dare to put the book down, and actually look at the woman next to her.

“I wasn't complaining.”

Almost all rigor had disappeared from Regina’s voice, and she reached out, putting a hand on the sheriff’s forearm.

“Sure,” the blonde shrugged, still trying to avoid the other woman’s eyes.

Why could she never once think before she said something? Why did she always have to maneuver herself into situations that backed her into a corner? Why did she even talk to Regina at all anymore? Because every time she did, without fail, it completely _fucking_ backfired, and she had to deflect or lie or run in order not to say what she so desperately (not) wanted to tell the brunette.

That they were spending basically every minute of the day with each other, safe for when Emma had to go to work, didn't exactly help either. Hook and David had been covering the night shifts in the past few weeks, so Emma could be at home with Regina just in case something happened again, and David could take care of Neal during the day, because Snow was supposed to take over as mayor at some point. Oh, the perks of small town family businesses.

“Emma, I’m serious. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate what you are doing for me,” Regina assured, voice stern, while she reached for the blonde’s hand, immediately intertwining their fingers.

“I’m just glad I can help, for a change,” Emma shrugged, because in the past she'd always been more on the troublemaker side of things, and it hadn't been until her days as a bail bonds person that she had felt at least somewhat appreciated.

“You’re always helping, don’t even try to argue with me. You saved my life—several times. You saved Henry, you saved this town. That _is_ helping.”

Regina's voice was borderline desperate in her attempt to make Emma understand how much she valued everything the blonde had done for her.

“No, that is being the savior. It’s different. Everyone expects me to do it,” the sheriff objected, because she still didn't like that whole destiny business.

She didn't give a flying fuck about fate, because being the chosen one, or whatever, had never helped her with anything. Her life had been a giant load of crap, sprinkled with abandonment and bullying, and it wasn't until she'd met Regina (and fought her tooth and nail) that she had felt that she had some say in this matter.

She didn't have to hate Regina, she didn't have to see her as the Evil Queen, or the woman who had allegedly ruined her life, she could just see her as someone who understood. Someone who considered her feelings, who treated her with respect, but also didn't give her any bonus points just because she was supposed to be some grand savior.

With Regina, she could just be whoever she wanted to be.

“I don’t. I never did,” the older woman confessed softly, as if she knew what the blonde was thinking.

Emma really wanted to kiss her.

The mayor was looking at her with something that seemed suspiciously like love, and affection, and like she actually gave a damn. Regina was looking at her the way she normally only looked at Henry.

Or maybe all that was only what Emma wanted to see, what she wished for. Yes; yes, that was probably it.

This was Emma’s heart playing tricks on her, her head just making up what she would like to be true. She was lying to herself here, really.

But Regina’s eyes were so clear and true and open. The way she looked at her, and held her hand, and outright sought physical comfort.

They spent so much time together lately—were so close—that, sometimes, Emma almost forgot they weren't in a relationship, or anything of that kind. They ate together, watched tv together, took care of their son together, shared the newspaper, and, most of the time, even slept in the same bed (after one night Emma had accidentally fallen asleep there, and had woken up almost spooned to death by Regina, who had claimed she had gotten the best sleep in the last 5 months).

This had to stop. Enough with the daydreams and the wishful thinking. She had to find back to reality.

“Wow, how do we always get into this deep stuff?” she laughed, trying to downplay the moment to save herself more embarrassment, and having to talk about this (and possibly more things she didn't exactly want Regina to know just yet—or ever, for that matter).

She was such a fucking idiot.

Regina was just about to give what was no doubt a snarky reply, when a voice from downstairs almost gave both of them a heart attack instead.

“Mooooooooom!”

Most of the time, they both were “mom,” though sometimes Henry called Emma “ma,” which meant that either he wanted something from her he knew Regina would never allow him, or he, for some reason or another, needed to make a clear distinction between his two mothers, who were more and more becoming a unit.

But since Emma knew that Henry knew that Regina couldn't really get out of bed, she was pretty sure he meant her right now, because, otherwise, he would just come up the stairs.

The sheriff groaned.

“And I guess that’s my cue to leave to take care of our offspring. Do you need anything else?”

She got up from the bed awkwardly.

“No, thank you, I think I’m good for now.”

Regina gave her a grateful smile, before she picked up the baby names book again.

“Great, see you in a bit,” the sheriff concluded, and crossed the room to go see what it was their son needed.

“Don’t be too long,” Regina called out, when Emma was almost out of the door already. A content smile on her face, the blonde turned around again.

“Why, Madame Mayor, you really can’t seem to get enough of me, who would’ve thought?”

“Idiot,” Regina laughed, and Emma couldn't help the funny feeling in her stomach.

* * *

 

She only made it halfway down the stairs before, “Moooooo—”

“God, Henry, I heard you the first time. Just like the whole town, probably. What is it?”

She loved the kid with all her heart, but sometimes she just wanted to throw him out of a window.

“I can’t find my phone.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s why I left a perfectly comfortable bed with a gorgeous woman in it? How am _I_ supposed to know, it’s yours,” she complained, because, sometimes, she still wasn't used to the whole mom thing, and, anyway, Regina was the one who always knew where everything was (which was a bit ironic, since, after all, Emma was the one with the “I will always find you”-genes).

Henry, in turn, just looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

“What?”

“You’re spending a lot of time in mom’s bedroom lately,” he said as casually as if he was talking about the weather or the latest level of his video game. Emma immediately went into defense mode.

“Yeah, well, I’m taking care of her, and I have t—”

“Also at night?” he asked curiously, that special grin on his face that meant he was up to no good.

“ _Excuse me_?”

“You weren't in the guest room last night. And the night before that. And a few before that as well. I am thirteen, not stupid.”

For a few moments, she was completely speechless. How did he even _know_ this? He was supposed to go to sleep at nine thirty, not snoop around the house in the middle of the night trying to catch his mothers doing God knows what in the master bedroom.

“So…?”

Emma crossed her arms in front of her chest; Henry followed suit.

“When were you planning on telling me? You promised you wouldn't lie to me anymore; _both_ of you,” the not so little anymore boy said in a stern voice, chin lifted in defiance.

Not really sure what he was getting at, Emma just kept staring at him with an expression that she hoped was indifferent, because this conversation might easily venture into highly dangerous territory . Normally, his conspiracy theories were quite amusing, but less so when one was apparently involved in them.

“Tell you what, exactly?”

“That you two are a couple,” he deadpanned, and Emma thought she must have completely lost it.

Had she even heard that right? Had he just called them a freaking _couple_? Good God, she was completely fucked.

“Henry, that’s not wh—”

Again, he interrupted her.

“I see the way you look at each other. It’s just like Grandpa and Grandma,” he argued, because, apparently, to a thirteen-year-old, the way two people looked at each other was a killer argument for romantic involvement.

“You’re reading way too much into this,” Emma tried to desperately get out of this whole mess with only a black eye.

Because if Henry knew, if the suspicion he apparently already had would be verified, there would be no way in hell he'd just let it go.

“No, I’m not. You love her,” he insisted.

This was bad.

Plus it raised some serious questions. Was her behavior really that obvious? Because if so, and if her thirteen year old son had picked up on it, then Regina must have as well. Did she _know_?

Right now, she wanted to just go live under a rock, and never return to his whole mess.

Regina couldn't know, she couldn't have figured it out by herself, because if she knew, and hadn't said anything, she wasn't interested for sure, because why else wouldn't she be proactive about it then?

“Please don’t.”

She really, really didn't want to talk about this topic, especially not with her teenage son, who happened to be the master of undercover operations, and had probably seen _The Parent Trap_ often enough to know how to go about something like that.

“You didn’t tell her yet, did you?”

He sounded way too much like his brunette mother for this to be any kind of okay. Talking about it with him in general was probably pretty inappropriate.

“Henry, seriously, just drop it. You don’t understand this,” she tried again, but he wouldn't listen (of course he wouldn’t).

“Mom, you have to tell her! It’s her happy ending. _You’re_ her happy ending!”

It was just natural that Henry wanted his parents—or rather what was left of them after several casualties, curses, and catastrophes—together, Emma figured, and it testified to great tolerance and an open mind that he wasn't put off by questions of gender, and the fact that this would be a same-sex relationship, but, also—and most importantly—this whole ordeal was absolutely none of his freaking business.

“As much as I would like to believe that, I can assure you I’m not.”

Because even if he was a gigantic asshole, that position was still Robin's.

Henry, however, seemed to think otherwise (to be fair he—as well—had never really liked Robin in the first place).

“Of course you are! The Savior and the Evil Queen—it totally makes sense!”

At his point, he seemed to be a mere second away from bouncing off the walls, and, although Emma really appreciated his excitement (not necessarily about this specific issue, but, generally, an enthusiastic teenager was better than an indifferent one), she still didn't like to hear the E- word.

True, he didn't see Regina as evil anymore, and he got past thinking in those horribly binary black-and-white, good-and-bad categories, but the title still held memories of a time that was less happy.

“Henry, I don’t want you to call your moth—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, not the Evil Queen anymore and all that jazz, whatever. You still need to tell her; asap,” he interrupted her, shrugging.

When had he become such a goddamn smartass, seriously? She should have a talk with Regina about how the Lost Boys probably weren't the best company for their son.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“If you won’t tell her, I will,” he muttered, and was already making his way up the stairs when Emma grabbed his arm to hold him back.

“ _No!_ ”

“But she has to know!”

He was somewhere between begging and straight up whining now, and Emma wasn't entirely sure if she’d rather comfort him to avoid a hissy fit, or ground him for absolutely unacceptable behavior.

“This whole situation is a lot more complicated than it might seem, kid,” the blonde tried to explain for the umpteenth time, but to no avail.

If Henry had set his mind on something, there was no coming back from that; definitely an instance of nurture over nature, because in that regard he was all Regina.

“No, it’s not, you’re just saying that because you're afraid. It’s really easy, see: you love her, she loves you, and I love both of you, so we can be a family.”

He sounded a lot like he had a few years back when they’d first met and he had animatedly told her about curses, and witches, and Snow White. And, to be honest, it sounded so _easy_. She would like to believe it was true.

“Henry…”

“I swear she does! Because she always gives you the best piece of chicken, even though it’s her favorite, and she doesn’t complain when you want to watch _The Simpsons_ although she hates it, and she lets you sit on the kitchen counter and steal bits of her cooking in the process; I’m not even allowed to do that!”

He looked at her in a way that reminded her of Neal (something she didn't really want to think about, because her feelings on that complete train wreck were still an epic mess), and he sounded a bit like him, too.

Henry had a point, though, Emma realized.

Indeed, Regina did do—for her—unnatural things to make the blonde happy (and vice versa, really). She went camping, she listened to Taylor Swift, she wore jeans, she sat in the Bug without complaining, she made lasagna anomalously often, and she let Emma see her in states of vulnerability, heartbreak, and in the five minutes after she woke up with a horrible bedhead, and an equally awful mood.

The brunette had definitely changed, which made Emma so proud, she didn't even have the words for it. She had come so far, they both had—individually and together.

“I wish it was true, but it’s not, kid.”

Visibly deflated, Emma brushed a hand over her face.

Henry, of course, picked up on the moment of hesitation before the blonde’s answer.

“So you actually do love her?”

There wasn’t really any point in denying it any longer.

“I… yes, I do.”

“I _knew_ it!”

He fist pumped, and Emma sighed internally.

“But that’s not gonna change anything,” the sheriff quickly tried to put an end to this whole discussion.

She wished it would. She wished that her being in love with Regina would be enough to make Regina love her in return. But that would be way too easy to ever happen to Emma, wouldn't it?

Unlike his mother's, Henry's optimism was still very much in place.

“And that’s where you’re wrong, mom. It’s gonna change _everything_ ,” he assured, and she gladly wanted to believe him, but his childish pipe dream was definitely doomed.

“God, where does all that positivity come from?” she laughed, hoping to get out of this whole discussion soon.

He hugged her, then.

Although physical contact, at least with immediate family members, wasn't as big as a problem as it had once been for Emma (harking all the way back to her life in the Foster system), Henry and she weren't big in the whole hugging each other business.

Rather, there was the regular pat on the back, ruffling of hair, or a high five; Regina was more of a hugger, and she took every chance she got to show or receive physical affection toward and from her son.

“I’m gonna head over to Paige’s, we need to work on a project for school,” he said while he grabbed his backpack from where it was lying on the floor.

“‘Project,’ yeah, _sure_ ,” Emma teased, glad for the change of topic.

“Moooom.”

“You need to tell her, I see the way she looks at you,” she mocked his earlier statement.

This she could live with, and this was how it should be—parents snooping around in their kids' love life (God, she didn't even want to use that word in relation to Henry because he was still so young), not the other way around.

“You’re even worse than mom,” he whined, and Emma grinned.

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment. It’s just fair, though: you tease me, I get to tease you. And now go, before I can ground you for being a little shit.”

Regina had tried to condition her to not swear in front of Henry, but, please, the kid was thirteen, not three, he heard enough of that bullshit at school, so it didn't really make any difference, did it.

“Language, Miss Swan,” he said, doing his best impression of his brunette mother. Emma punched his shoulder.

“Out!” she half barked, half laughed.

* * *

 

Henry had been gone for a while already, but Emma was still standing in the foyer, staring into nothingness.

If she was completely honest, she knew that Henry was right, that Regina deserved to know, even if she wasn't feeling the same way.

But instead of confessing, she lied, and hid, and ran. Running was what she always did, always had done. Every time things got serious, when a situation—a relationship—got too real, she packed her stuff, and just left.

Better get away before someone told her to, she thought, although that wasn't true at all. Leaving was just as hard as being left; just as painful, and, in the end, even more difficult.

The rational part of her brain knew it was a stupid idea, but the other part, the part that just panicked, told her to run for the hills, and save herself the heartache.

But the heartache was there anyway, the pain was real.

All her abandonment issues and whatnot probably dated back to her time in the Foster system, where she had been returned and replaced on a regular basis.

What if she had stayed with her first family, if they hadn't given her back? Or if Snow and David had kept her?

Maybe she would be different today—less trouble with commitment, more communicative skills.

* * *

 

It was later that night when all three of them were huddled up to one another on the bed in Regina's (and now also kind of Emma's) room, watching the newest episode of _Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D._ , because Henry currently had an unhealthy obsession with everything that was even only slightly superhero-related, and Emma liked to see Chloe Bennet’s face (Regina was simply happy to spend some quality time with her family).

They'd even had dinner—pizza, because it was Friday—in bed, which, under normal circumstances that didn't have her basically tied to the bed, Regina would never allow.

The kid was sprawled out between them, but the sheriff’s arm was lying on the pillow behind Henry so that her fingers could reach Regina, and softly massage her neck, because, apparently, not having some kind of physical contact with the brunette wasn't possible anymore.

Right now, it was commercial break, and, because seeing people drink Coca Cola and tell you how much fun having your period is (when it was clearly not) wasn't necessarily Emma's favorite part time activity.

“Henry met Paige today to work on a ‘project.’”

“It was for school,” he muttered without even taking his eyes away from the television screen.

“Sure it was,” Emma teased, just because she could. This—riling up your kid—really was one of the biggest perks of having one in the first place. And it was extremely easy to peeve Henry.

Sometimes, Emma was afraid she was taking things a little too far, stepping over the line between fun and harm, just because she wasn’t really sure where that line was.

Growing up, she didn't have what she had now—parents, a family, someone she could joke around with. Growing up, all she had known was the harm-side of things; being beaten, berated, and just generally treated like a worthless piece of garbage.

It had left its marks, and, although the wounds had somewhat healed, the scars were still there. And they always would be.

She would always be a little broken, just a bit damaged, but it was okay as long as the people around her understood. As long as they got that, sometimes, she needed to be on her own, she got angry, or, more generally, certain things triggered specific reactions on her part.

Regina was one of the very few people who knew exactly how to handle the sheriff in every possible situation. While Snow pushed her too far every now and then, and David tended to be a little overprotective, Regina always got it right. It was a miracle, really, because, without fail, she reacted exactly the way Emma needed her to—when, sometimes, the blonde herself didn’t even know what the right reaction to her moods was supposed to be.

Maybe it was because they were quite similar, maybe because they were pretty different. But, really, Emma didn’t even care. She was just glad that she had the other woman in her life.

Somehow, Regina managed to ground her. She made her calmer, more balanced, and just generally a better person—be it as a mother, a friend, or a partner. They just complemented each other.

“Do you like her?” Regina asked her son, none of Emma’s teasing in her voice.

God, she really was a way better mother than the blonde would ever be.

She treated Henry seriously, almost like an adult, and—unlike Emma—wasn’t making ridiculous jokes all the time just to distract from the fact that she was way in over her head.

Of course, Emma had picked up some ruses from the other woman over the years, but, when it was something serious, Henry would still always go to Regina with it first.

But Emma wasn't mad about that, how could she be? She was glad the relationship between mother and son was better than ever, and it warmed her heart to see Henry return Regina’s affection so willingly (apart from the occasional teenage boy behavior, obviously).

She could live with being the fun parent, the one you went to for borrowing the car or a later curfew, as long as she was somehow involved in this unique, beautiful family they had created.

“She’s nice, yes,” Henry answered, gaze straight ahead. He was obviously embarrassed about the turn this whole situation had taken, and Emma almost, _almost_ felt sorry for bringing it up.

“You can invite her over some time, if you would like to.”

Regina was still all diplomatic and considerate, trying to make it as easy as possible for her son.

“Yeah, maybe,” he shrugged, and Emma clarified on his behalf. “He has a huge crush on her.”

Okay, maybe she wasn't sorry at all for bringing it up. This was just _way_ too much fun.

Apparently not for Henry, though, because he snapped.

“Shut up, mom. And even if, I’m sure as hell not the only one with a crush here.”

“Language, Henry,” Regina reprimanded, giving him a disapproving look.

“But it’s _true_! Whatever, I’m gonna go to bed. Night,” he muttered, before he jumped up from the bed, stormed out of the room, and slammed the door hard in the process.

Dammit, kid.

“Care to explain what that was about just now?” Regina asked after a few seconds of silence, and Emma couldn't even blame her for it. Of course she wanted to know what was going on between their son and her… Emma.

“We had a little discussion earlier, don’t worry about it, it’s nothing,” Emma tried to brush it off, since she really didn't want to spill the beans just because Henry knew now, and was more or less blackmailing her into it.

She was about to get up, but Regina's hand on her forearm held her back. Against her better judgement, she turned her head to look at the brunette, who was gazing back at her with those damn chocolate eyes.

“Please, don’t do this. Don’t _not_ talk to me,” Regina almost begged, and Emma sighed.

“Can we just go to sleep? I’m tired, and I need to go to the station early tomorrow.”

She knew she was being a coward again, that she should just say something, but she was just too afraid to lose everything she and Regina had worked so hard for when it came to their friendship.

“Emma…”

Why did this have to be so hard?

“Just let it slide for now, okay? I promise, I will let you know when the time is right. Trust me on this.”

The room was quiet for a bit as Regina seemed to ponder if she should press further or not. Eventually, she didn’t.

“Are you going to sleep in here tonight?” the brunette asked instead.

Emma had done that a lot, lately.

The first time had been an accident, where Emma had more or less passed out on the bed after an exhausting day at the station; they’d woken up in each other’s arm.

After that, it happened more regularly, because the blonde thought Regina’s mattress was pure heaven and lied down onto it every chance she got, and Regina seemed intent on keeping Emma in her bed without outright asking her to stay the night.

At some point, _that_ had evolved into an unspoken agreement that this was where Emma slept now, that falling asleep cuddled into each other’s arms was a perfectly normal thing to do with your best friend you absolutely were _not_ completely in love with, and that hands slipping under shirts (and staying there) were an accident.

“If you want me to,” she replied, because, to her, Regina being comfortable with whatever they were doing was more important than her own comfort. It wasn't even that it was a problem; she was very comfortable with being close to Regina, if she could just pretend the other woman returned her feelings (which, when Regina's head was laying on her chest, and brunette hair tickled her chin, wasn't all that hard to imagine, actually).

“Yes, I do. I actually sleep better when you’re here—even though you snore.”

This was the first time ever they were even acknowledging their current sleeping arrangements, let alone openly discussing it.

That was how they functioned, apparently—trying to ignore the elephant in the room until it blew up in both their faces. They should probably work on communication.

But it was just so much easier to not talk about it; to not mention feelings, and commitment, and a possible future, because it scared both of them off, and the last thing Emma wanted was to joggle the house of cards their relationship was built on at the moment.

“Do not,” Emma protested, and had to fight the urge to throw a pillow or something at the other woman.

“Of course not, dear.”

Regina's voice was playful, and she had that sparkle in her eyes she always got when they were teasing. It was a game they were playing more often than not, because it was fun, and easy, and a great way to avoid serious conversations about all the things they didn't want to talk about (but should, most likely).

“Mean,” she pouted, before disappearing into the ensuite.

* * *

 

About 15 minutes later, Emma was lying on what she now considered _her_ side of the bed, waiting for Regina to finish up in the bathroom and join her.

It felt so much like being an old married couple, Emma could barely handle it. Not that she had any idea how old married couples actually behaved, but in her mind, it was exactly like this—comfortable and familiar, but still exciting nonetheless.

Would it be like that, if, at one point, they would become a couple? Would nothing change except for the label? Were they in a relationship without even knowing it?

This way or the other, what she had with Regina was, by far, the deepest, most important, longest-lasting relationship she had had to another human being _ever_.

She had never been good with friends, even less with anything romantic, and family to keep in touch with had just never existed. She was used to being a loner, because, when it was only herself, at least there was no one who could let her down.

It was then that Regina decided to return from the bathroom. She was in an oversized shirt she had probably stolen from Emma at some point, and the blonde’s heart stopped for a second, because, even like this—not giving a shit about how she looked—Regina was still the most beautiful woman Emma had ever seen.

“How do you manage to still look absolutely gorgeous on bed rest and with no makeup whatsoever?”

“It’s almost like magic, isn’t it?” Regina quipped, taking the scrunchie out of her (now longer) hair, which, consequently, softly fell over her shoulders and back.

It made her look younger, less stern, and although Emma truly loved the strict Madame Mayor look (because, for some reason, she had a thing for dominant woman in positions of power), this one fit the person Regina had become much better.

The brunette's eyes were sparkling and she had an easy smile on her lips. She was absolutely breathtaking.

Sometimes, Emma still couldn't believe they had come this far—sharing a son, a house, and now even a bed. They were basically inseparable, but the blonde really didn't mind spending every second of her life around the other woman. It was just so easy and comfortable and _right_.

It felt like home.

“Wow, did you just make a really, really bad pun? Good one, Madame Mayor. I’m proud of you,” Emma just laughed, eyes never leaving the other woman, who was still standing in the doorway to the ensuite.

“Do shut up, or I’ll make you sleep on the couch tonight.”

“Oh, so you’re one of _those_ wives?”

 _Wife_ , really? God, get a grip, Swan.

“I’m one of ‘those wives’ who have their husbands killed,” Regina dead panned, and Emma just stared at her in return.

Of course she knew what had happened to... her _grandfather_ , Regina had told her about her marriage to the king on an evening a few months back, but hearing her mention it so casually was still kind of weird (if not borderline disturbing).

“I… wow, this took a dark turn really fast,” she stuttered, not exactly sure how to reply to a statement like that.

“Welcome to my life, Miss Swan,” Regina responded dryly, and just shrugged.

The mood had, once again, completely shifted in a matter of seconds. They were on the verge of serious topics, of tears, whispered confessions, and long conversations at three in the morning. Emma didn't have the energy for that at the moment.

She was exhausted; she didn't want to talk. She just wanted to go to sleep, Regina safe in her arms, so she could hold on to her.

“Really? ‘Miss Swan?’ Aren't we past that by now?”

Truth to be told, Regina calling her that kind of turned her on (especially when the other woman used what Emma liked to call her sexy voice), but the blonde didn't want to admit it, least of all to Regina, because... _because_.

“Of course we are, Miss Swan, but I still like to rile you up sometimes, you know.”

That smirk again.

“God, you really are an asshole at heart,” Emma shot back, but the smile on her face was too big for the comment to be an insult.

Regina just smirked her evil (and, kind of unfortunately, also extremely sexy) smirk, while she climbed under the covers next to the blonde. Her hand lingered on the bedside lamp for a bit, back to Emma, before she finally turned it off, rolled over, and cuddled into the blonde's waiting arms.

Emma's arm was around the mayor's back, hand resting half on her hip, half on her belly, and she pulled the other woman as close as possible.

She could smell the lotion the brunette put on her face every night, Regina's shampoo, which she was using as well now, and something that was just distinctly _Regina_.

Eyes closed, she nuzzled her nose further into Regina's hair, and couldn't help the smile on her lips, because this right here was as close to perfect as it got.

“I’m in love with you,” Emma whispered into the darkness after a while, not sure if she was hoping the woman in her arms was still awake to hear it, or not.


	13. Week 23 - Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had exam weeks from hell, so this took me a while--once again. Hope you're still reading this, and I'm really gonna try and update the story sooner this time. Please enjoy some good old father-daughter pep talk. As always, comments are greatly appreciated. xx

Emma awoke slowly, caught in that marvelous state somewhere between dreamland and the harsh truth of reality for a few perfect seconds.

Of course, she had dreamt about Regina, what else was new. The brunette had been haunting her in her sleep for the past few weeks, but most of the time she didn't even mind.

This time, they had been chasing a weird, Big Foot-like creature halfway through town, and, once Emma had finally successfully caught it, Regina had rewarded her with a kiss.

God, she really didn't want to wake up, but she couldn't help the wonderful fantasy slipping from her mind.

The first thing Emma realized once her brain had fully caught up with everything was that her ass was pretty fucking cold. Also, she didn't feel her right arm anymore.

When she eventually opened her eyes, she learned that both of these circumstances were Regina's fault, because a, the brunette had hogged about ninety-nine percent of their shared blanket, and b, she was lying on Emma's arm. Talk about waking up cuddled into each other and being all cute and comfy; fucking rom-com lies.

As carefully as possible, she extracted her arm from under Regina's torso, and then quietly slipped out of bed. She grabbed a gown (which was probably the mayor’s by the looks of it) from the armchair next to the door, before putting it on.

Normally, the brunette was the first one up, because she was both, an early riser and a light sleeper, but every now and then Emma beat her to it.

Those were usually the mornings when the blonde just stared at the sleeping woman in bed with her, and pretended that this whole situation wasn't a complete and utter fuck up; that she wasn't lying to herself by pretending this might be more than it actually was.

In the moments when she was looking at Regina so close to her, so vulnerable and peaceful, she could almost make herself believe that the brunette loved her as well, that they were already in a relationship without even talking about it, just because it came to them so effortlessly.

But today was not one of those days.

Today, she couldn't get away from the other woman fast enough.

It was chicken, she knew it was, but she needed to sort out her own head before she could face an awake Regina—and the conversation that would inevitably entail.

So she opened the door as quietly as possible, avoiding to step on that one floorboard right behind the threshold that always creaked, and made her way downstairs to prepare some breakfast.

* * *

 When she came back, carefully balancing a tray with food on her left forearm, Regina was already awake.

"Hi," Emma said, sheepish grin on her face, and put the tray on the end of the bed.

"I thought you left."

It sounded both, accusatory and disappointed, and, for a second, Emma was taken aback by the panicky look on the other woman’s face.

What also didn't help was that Regina was looking at her with those big, sad, scared eyes.

This must have reminded the brunette of waking up alone after _that_ night, and Emma cursed herself for ever even doing that to the other woman in the first place.

"I made you breakfast already. Hope you're ok with strawberry yogurt today,” she said as a sort of peace offering, handing a bowl to Regina.

“Thanks."

For a few moments, the mayor just absentmindedly stirred her food, before she actually started eating.

She avoided looking at Emma, staring down into the bowl instead.

"Are you alright? You seem a bit out of it," the blonde commented, while she sat down onto the bed next to where she supposed Regina's thighs were under the huge (and wonderfully soft) blanket.

There was no answer at first, but, eventually, the other woman lifted her eyes.

For a moment, the mayor just looked at Emma, as if conflicted. A thousand different emotions seemed to be reflected in her eyes, and Emma was sure that something was bothering the other woman.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Maybe Regina had heard her midnight confession after all, and was currently trying to figure out how to best communicate she didn't feel the same way.

Emma's knuckles turned white clutching the sheets at her side in an effort to suppress the urge to—once again—run away from any possible rejection.

They just looked at each other for a few more moments, before Regina squeezed her eyes shut, and shook her head slightly.

"I'm fine, it's nothing."

Emma's lie detector went off like the fireworks on the Fourth of July, but she didn't dare say anything, just in case.

Avoiding confrontation altogether was better than rocking the boat, right? It was safe and familiar, and maybe just a tiny bit unhealthy, but living without Regina would wreck Emma more than ignoring the elephant in the room ever could.

"If you say so," Emma shrugged, taking another bite of her granola bar. "Anyway, I need to get going. Snow is going to come over in a few to take care of you until I'm back."

The other woman rolled her eyes.

"I'm not an invalid, you know; I can deal with being on my own for more than 5 minutes.”

Regina had to feel like a lion in a cage, and Emma knew that if there was one thing the brunette didn't like, it was being trapped.

The sheriff felt sorry for her (and was simultaneously impressed that Regina hadn't killed anyone out of frustration yet—because she sure as hell would have).

"Humor me, okay? I just want to make sure you're safe," Emma pleaded, and it sounded almost desperate. Yeah, well.

Regina just looked away, because, from time to time, she still didn't deal well with people that actually cared about her.

The blonde got it, she was the same, after all. It was hard to unlearn years and years of being told that you're worthless, and strange, and that no one gave a flying fuck about you, anyway.

Carefully reaching out, she took Regina's hand in hers, while still giving the other woman a chance to pull away, just in case she didn't want the contact right now.

"Please be nice. No cusses, no curses, no casualties."

Regina looked back up then, a teasing smile on her face.

“Well, I can't promise anything.”

"Oh please, I know you secretly actually like her."

It was incredible really, how far they’d all come. No one wanted to (seriously) kill the other one anymore, there were weekly family dinners and trips to the park.

Sometimes Snow and Regina talked on the phone for longer than was appropriate when talking to your supposed enemy, exchanging parenting advice, or just bitching about Emma’s apparent inability to be on time.

Of course, Regina would still get annoyed by something stupid Snow did, or roll her eyes when her former step-daughter talked about certain topics, but Emma knew for a fact that—much like between Regina and herself—the digs had lost their venom, and the concern for each other was genuine.

It was nice. It was nice, because it felt like family; _real_ family, where you loved each other, even when someone said something you didn't like, or you were mad at them, or they drove you crazy ninety-nine percent of the time.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night, dear," Regina purred, and gave the blonde one of her signature smirks.

"I always know when you're lying, remember?"

True, her impressions were seldom completely accurate, but, for some reason, it seemed to work with Regina, which might be more due to the fact that she was good at reading the other woman after years of being enemies, allies, co-parents, and, finally, friends, than to the accuracy of her internal lie detector.

"I still highly doubt that is true. Your 'super power' seems awfully wonky. Especially in moments where it could actually be useful," the brunette deadpanned.

"Try me,” Emma challenged, sitting up a little bit straighter.

"I thought you had to get to the station.”

Regina’s tone was teasing, because she probably knew that, at this point, Emma was just stalling since she didn't want to leave.

"Oh please, we both know that—except for the weekly cat stuck on a tree—nothing will actually happen today, anyway, so I'm just gonna sit around, play _Word Search_ on my phone, and avoid the paperwork that was due last Monday," the sheriff joked, although that description of her work day was pretty accurate.

She did love her job, yes, but it could get a little dull from time to time (not that she wished for a new villain that had somehow escaped from the Enchanted Forest or wherever every week, but still).

And with Regina basically tied to the bed and preoccupied with other things, she might or might not purposefully _forget_ some of the paperwork, because, when Snow took over in a couple of weeks as substitute mayor, her mother wouldn't have a clue anyway.

"Just wait until your boss hears about that!”

Smug smile on her face, leaned in a little bit closer.

"Don't worry, my boss likes me enough to let it slide."

Even before she had become pregnant, Regina hadn't screamed at her for tardy paperwork in over half a year, because Emma had perfected the art of defusing the other woman like a bomb from World War II.

It was easy, really. You had to either distract her with talk about Henry, or remind her that no matter what you had done, she still hated Hook ten thousand times more when he was just breathing.

"I wouldn't bet on it, Sheriff Swan," Regina sassed right back, and Emma just beamed at her.

She was pretty sure she was never going to get tired of their banter. After it had lost any true venom and intentions of hurting each other a few months back, it was just too much fun to ever stop.

While Regina could really dish it out, she could also take it; she was witty, and smart, and fun, and, really, who could blame Emma for falling in love with someone as breathtaking as her?

True, she wasn't perfect, but neither was Emma. They both had pasts, they had baggage—lots of it—but, together, they somehow managed to help each other with it.

It was perfectly imperfect.

“Be good. I’ll be back at three,” Emma managed to finally break away, and, before she could actually think it through, she leaned in and pecked Regina on the lips.

_Shit._

"Oh God, sorry, Regina. I wasn't thinking, sometimes I forge—I mean, I don't... I'm sorry," the blonde rambled, her face probably as red as a firetruck.

Why _the hell_ did she always manage to somehow fuck up?

"It's quite alright, dear, don't worry about it. It was nothing, really."

Regina gave her a tight smile, which was one hundred percent fake. Emma's stomach sank.

It was nothing. Nothing.

_Nothing._

"Well, I'm gonna leave you to it, then. See you later," Emma shrugged, trying—and probably failing—to hide how much Regina's comment had hurt her.

While, yes, it was obviously better than the brunette completely losing it over a simple kiss, it still wasn't nothing, either; Emma's _feelings_ sure as hell weren't nothing.

"Try not to overwork yourself, dear!”

* * *

 At the station, Emma just sat at her desk and stared at the paperwork in front of her.

Regina’s words were still echoing in her head, and she had had to fight the overwhelming urge to cry because of how fucked up this whole thing was a few times already in the past hours.

The impulse to kiss Regina goodbye had just felt so natural, she hadn't even considered to question it, which was a whole other level of wrong (and, definitely, inconvenient).

David had come in about an hour earlier, which Emma had only realized once he had dropped a Bear claw onto her desk, whereupon she had greeted him with a nod and then gone back to staring at the paperwork she was supposed to be doing.

She rather wanted to go for a run at the moment, or just drive around in the Bug, or shoot at something.

Everything annoyed her, and if Mitchell Herman came in today to, once again, complain about how there weren't enough garbage cans in the park, she would probably rip his head off with her bare hands, or something. _Asshole._

So completely lost in thought, she didn't hear David approach until he leaned against the desk next to her chair, and she almost jumped in surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

Her father had his arms crossed over his chest, and looked at her with that concerned puppy dog face both she herself and Henry had inherited.

“Nothing,” the sheriff mumbled, and looked back down onto the still untouched paperwork in front of her.

“Emma, please. I might not be a father that long yet, but I can still see that something is bothering my little girl.”

She wasn't really sure if she wanted to punch him in the face, or throw herself into his arms and cry. Maybe both.

“You’re my age, David. Don’t be ridiculous,” she grumbled, and winced internally, because it sounded way harsher than was appropriate.

He just frowned.

“Okay, I didn't deserve that, bu—”

Emma sighed, and interrupted him.

“I’m sorry, dad, I know. It’s just…”

How could she possibly explain her behavior without letting him know that something bigger was up.

While she was pretty sure he would be okay with her being gay—because, apparently, (although no one had openly talked about it) same-sex affairs had definitely been a thing back in the old land—she wasn't so sure how he would handle the fact that it was Regina of all people she had fallen in love with.

He seemed to like her well enough at this point, but accepting your former arch-nemesis as part of the family because she happened to be the other mother of your grandson, and accepting her as your daughter-in-law were two completely different things.

But Emma needed to talk to someone about this— _pronto_ —because this whole situation was eating her alive.

She took a deep breath.

“What do you do when you're in love with someone you shouldn't be in love with?”

Good one, better keep it vague.

David just looked at her, confused for a second, before things seemed to click into place.

“Because the person is with someone else, or because you think they don't feel the same way?”

His facial expression was full of empathy, and Emma’s last resolve broke.

“Honestly, why would she ever _want_ me? I mean look at me, I'm a mess,” she rambled, before her filter could kick in. Whatever.

“Is 'she' who I think she is?”

It sounded like he already knew the answer anyway, so there was really no point in trying to be all vague anymore, was there?

“Yes.”

He didn't even blink.

“Do you plan on telling her anytime soon?”

Emma sighed.

“No. Yes. I don't know.”

“I don't want to pressure you into anything, but she deserves to know.”

_What?_

He was actually on _Regina’s_ side in all of this (or at least what could be Regina’s side if she knew what was going on).

No scene, no tamper tantrum, just plain old advice.

Could he please stop being so _fucking_ calm and understanding and accepting about this?

For fuck's sake, she was in love with his ex-mortal enemy, who happened to also be a woman (and maybe something like his ex-stepmother-in-law, but she was never really sure when it came to the exact kinship in their family—who could blame her).

The bottom line was that he should be at least moderately surprised about this whole thing, but he seemed to be perfectly calm.

Did seriously _everyone_ know about Emma's feelings? Way to go with being subtle, Swan.

“I know, I'm just afraid it'll wreck everything we've worked for these past years.”

“But not telling her will probably wreck you in the process, don't you think? I don't want you to get hurt because she rejects you, Emma, but I also don't want you to slowly perish of this.”

“I did tell her. Kind of. Last night,” the blonde admitted then.

David’s eyebrows rose.

“And what did she say?”

“Nothing. She was already asleep, apparently. I'm just so afraid of not being wanted once more. It's a miracle I didn't run for the hills yet; well except for aft—never mind.”

Her father looked like he desperately wanted to hug this whole thing out, but—luckily—he knew his daughter well enough at this point to be aware that that wasn't a good idea right now.

Instead, he let his arms fall to his sides.

“I’ve known Regina for a long time, and I have never seen her as happy as she is when she is with you. I can’t promise you that she will return your feelings, but I can promise you that, even if not, she’ll do everything not to lose you. She doesn’t let people in easily, but when she does, she holds onto them, come what may.”

Emma knew all this. She knew that Regina was passionate about her friends and family, that she loved deeply and with everything she had. But hearing it out loud gave her at least some new hope that everything would be okay when she eventually told Regina.

Maybe their friendship could survive this even if the brunette didn't return Emma's feelings. They had lived through deadly triggers, snow monsters, and sinister teenagers kidnapping their son, so, certainly, they could work through this as well, right?

It wouldn't change the fact that they were both Henry's mothers, that they just got each other. True, it might be weird for a while, but they would come out in one piece at the end of the day.

Probably.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

“I just… I don’t want to scare her off. I know it’s stupid and pathetic and whatever, but I need her in my life. And before I lose her, I’d rather not have her know at all and just be friends,” the blonde admitted, and, instantly, felt like the biggest idiot in the history of idiots.

After the whole Neal debacle, she had promised herself to never get attached to another person as much as she had been to him, because—evidently—in the end that person would just let her down, anyway.

But somehow, it was different with Regina.

It was a relationship at eye level. They had both been through enough crap individually (and even more together) to know that they couldn't even trust themselves, but, because they were such guarded, complex people, the connection they shared was even deeper.

It wasn't dependence, it was mutual support.

“It’s your decision, Emma. Though, after all she’s been through, I think she deserves to know. You might just be her happy ending,” he concluded, the smile on his face bright and sincere.

Emma almost wanted to laugh at his statement.

Because it was ridiculous.

Right?

“Thanks, dad. I’m gonna think about it.”

* * *

 It was ten at night, and Regina was laying in bed already, glasses on her nose, while she was reading some old school novel Emma had never even heard of.

Henry had gone to his room about an hour earlier claiming he had to finish his homework (but Emma figured he was probably busy texting Paige), so they’d called it an early night.

Although she hadn't necessarily gotten a lot of work done, Emma felt exhausted, which was probably due to the emotional tornado raging inside her.

She had just finished taking a shower, and was currently sitting on the edge of the bed, no pants and back to Regina, rubbing some of the brunette’s fancy body lotion onto her calves.

The whole scene was so domestic, the sheriff wanted to shake the other woman to make her realize that, at this point, they were basically acting like a married couple, and it was ridiculous that Regina—smart, well-read, shrewd Regina—didn’t see.

At some point, the brunette put the book down and looked at Emma; looked at Emma for a long, long time, seemingly fighting some sort of internal battle with herself.

“I heard what you said last night. But I didn't know how to react,” the brunette said eventually, voice perfectly calm, face even.

Emma's blood froze; her head whipped around to look at the woman next to her.

“I didn’t…” she started, but didn't know how to finish the sentence.

She didn't what? Didn't know Regina had actually been awake? Didn't want Regina to have been awake to hear it? Didn't think Regina would want to talk about it?

Her thoughts were running a mile a minute, because what _the fuck_ was she supposed to say now.

Of course, she could wait for the other woman to say something, to reciprocate or repudiate the feelings, but, also, there was still her fear of rejection, her infamous "attack before being attacked" technique.

So Emma opened her mouth.

“I didn't mean it,” she finally said, and immediately cursed herself.

This was definitely _not_ what she had meant to say.

_Fuck._

Meryl Streep on a _fucking_ cracker, why was she such a god _damn_ disaster when it came to feelings, and—surprise—even worse when it came to talking about them.

This whole thing wasn't even a train wreck anymore, it was the fucking apocalypse.

She was just about to bolt again, when she saw Regina's face fall.

"You didn't? Oh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm the worst. Please don't hate me! We're getting there, I promise.


	14. Week 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy chicken fingers, I am so, so sorry that this took ages again! I planned to finish it in three days, but then life happened, and I couldn't. Hope you're still interested, and it wasn't too horrible after that last evil cliffhanger. Thank you so much for all the feedback I got, it means the world to me, and please enjoy this chapter. There's five more chapters after this and then we're done. Thanks for reading. xx

Emma could hear the blood rushing in her ears, her heart pounding in her chest.

This was wrong; it was all so goddamn wrong.

Regina wasn't saying anything either, and that was definitely a bad sign. All her walls were down, though, lying to her feet in a crumbled mess, and she looked hurt, so hurt, which didn't make any sense, because she didn't love Emma anyway, so she should be happy, and relieved, and not as incredibly sad as she appeared to be.

Emma wasn't really sure if the unshed tears she thought she was seeing in the other woman's eyes were actually just here own, maybe they were both close to crying, maybe this was the last straw, and the sheriff had completely fucked up once and for all.

Suddenly, she was unbelievably scared; she didn't want to lose Regina.

Because Regina was important. Because Regina was her partner in crime, and her friend, and most probably the love of her life. Because they were "Team Moms," and they had stopped a weird unstoppable trigger diamond, and moved the moon.

"No, Regina, I'm sorry, I... God, why is this so hard?"

The sheriff let out an exhausted groan, and rubbed a hand over her face.

It took a few moments for the other woman to reply.

"You don't have to apologize. I was an idiot for assuming you could actually return my feelings in the first place," she almost whispered, eventually, head turned to the side.

"I swear to God, Regina, I did no—wait, _what_? _Return_ your feelings?"

Emma just gaped at the brunette, who looked up then, eyes big and shiny.

"Yes. The giant fool I am, somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you. But just forget abo—"

Before she could finish the sentence, the sheriff lunged forward and pressed her lips onto Regina's.

The kiss was desperate, like when you were drowning, and finally came up to gasp for air; like being on fire, burning up inside and out.

For a horrible second, however, Regina didn't respond, didn't reciprocate, but also didn't pull away. She was just frozen into place.

Maybe Emma had misheard, made it all up in her head. Regina had actually rejected her, and now she was forcing herself on the other woman regardless, because she was a huge idiot.

But then Regina kissed back, all tongue, and teeth, and it felt so wonderful, the blonde wanted to cry.

"I love you, too. I love you," she breathlessly panted between kisses, because she still couldn't believe this was actually happening.

Apparently, neither could Regina.

"Really?"

The brunette looked downright shocked about this revelation.

"God, Regina, yes! I wanted to tell you for ages, but... I was so fucking afraid you were going to reject me, and everything would go to shit again."

Emma gave her a sheepish grin, because, saying it out loud, her lame excuse sounded even more ridiculous than it had in her head.

"You are an idiot," Regina declared, and the blonde couldn't even disagree, because she really, really was.

"Yeah, I know."

Instead of rubbing it in, however, the other woman just shrugged.

"But I am, too, apparently, so I guess we make a good match."

Regina smiled at her. One of the big smiles, the sincere ones, all crinkly eyes and dimples, and Emma kissed her again.

"So... what now?"

"Now," Regina pressed her lips to the sheriff's once more, "We go to sleep, just like we always do, and then tomorrow morning we wake up, have breakfast in bed, you kiss me some more, and then we should to talk to our son about this... new development, I suppose."

"Oh please, he already knows," Emma laughed, absentmindedly running her fingertips over the other woman's ever growing baby bump.

"What?"

Regina looked mildly alarmed.

"He basically kicked my ass a few days back, because, the smart little shit he is, he figured out I was in love with you before I even actually did."

"He is my son after all," the brunette noted, smile somewhere between proud and downright smug.

Of course, the sheriff accepted the challenge.

"Well, he may have your brains, but, more importantly, he has my staggeringly good looks."

Regina just laughed (which was absolutely adorable).

"Big feet and puppy dog eyes?"

They both laughed, Emma's fingers grazing Regina's arm, and it was ridiculous how easy this was all of a sudden.

It felt so natural, it should scare the living shit out of her, but for some reason it simply didn't.

Instead, it just seemed... right.

"I hate you," Emma grumbled, but failed to keep the smile off of her face.

"No, you don't."

"No, I really don't," the blonde agreed, and pecked the other woman on the lips once more, before she laid back onto the bed, and pulled her close, lips resting against dark hair.

"Wow, who would've thought the Evil Queen and the brave little orphan Savior would be so lovey-dovey one day. And with each other no less."

"Shut up and kiss me," Regina laughed, and Emma did just that.

* * *

 

Easing into their new relationship was actually smoother than any of them would have thought; because nothing changed, really.

Emma still took care of Regina, they still bantered, they still slept in the same bed, they still spent family time with Henry.

He, of course, had just given them a duh look, and muttered something that sounded a lot like "finally," when they had told him a few days back (but had given them an extra long hug later that day, saying he loved them).

During the latest extended family dinner with Snow, David, and baby Neal (one of the few occasions Emma had actually allowed Regina to leave what was now their bed to sit at the table with all of them instead), they hadn't exactly said anything about their new relationship status, but, also, they had done nothing to try and hide the fact that they had finally sorted out their issues.

Her father had just given her a knowing smile when Emma had, at some point during dinner, placed one arm around the back of the mayor's chair, hand on her shoulder, rubbing what she hoped were calming circles with her thumb; and Snow had suddenly hugged her half to death when they'd been in the kitchen together to get dessert—later, Regina had told the blonde that, much like David had done with her, Snow had talked some sense into the mayor on the day they had finally acknowledged their feelings for each other.

Currently, Emma and Regina were in what had once been one of the guest bedrooms—which hadn't ever been used, anyway, because in all her almost thirty years in Storybrooke, not once had Regina had anyone stay the night (except for Emma, of course).

With her farther's help, the sheriff had carried most of the old furniture into the mansion's basement a few days earlier to make room for all the baby stuff she and her girlfriend had ordered online.

So now, while Regina was sitting in an armchair, legs up on a stool—because Emma was still crazy worried that something might happen to the older woman (or the baby, for that matter)—the blonde herself was kneeling on the floor, trying to assemble what was supposed to be the baby's bed, but she wasn't overly successful with that, to be honest.

Regina, however, seemed quite amused by Emma's by now borderline desperate attempt to build something that even remotely resembled a piece of furniture.

"You still don't know how to do it, do you?" she assessed more than asked, and Emma was reminded of being crouched on the floor of the loft with David, working on Neal's crib several months back.

Even back then, when they had still been on somewhat uncertain terms in regard to what exactly they were to each other, the mayor had been family, just being around as if she'd always been, as if she belonged. Well, maybe she had, in a sense, or at least she should have.

With all the history with Snow and David, the connection to Emma herself, and of course considering the fact that she was Henry's mother, she deserved to be considered family. Plus, she had saved all of their asses over and over again without getting any credit for that whatsoever.

"I'm fine, thank you very much," the blonde muttered, while she almost accidentally hit herself in the face with one of the wooden pieces she had picked up. Smooth, Swan.

"You're reading the instructions upside-down," Regina deadpanned then, not even looking up from the latest issue of _Fit Pregnancy_ she was reading, and, instead, just arching an eyebrow over the cover.

Emma's head snapped down to the piece of paper in front of her on the floor, cheeks red with embarrassment.

Oh, come _on_!

She could fix cars, had slain a goddamn dragon, and was a Lego architecture mastermind (not that Neal cared a lot, because he only ever destroyed what she built for him), but, apparently, putting together three pieces of wood was too much to ask of the Savior. Right.

"I knew that! I was just… testing if you pay attention, is all," Emma lied, because it was seriously ridiculous how much of an anti-talent she was when it came to basic lesbian skills.

"Of course, dear."

Although she wasn't able to see it, she could literally hear Regina's smirk.

"Don't be such a meanie," the blonde whined exaggeratedly, because this was bullshit.

Cribs should come in one piece. Or with tiny people to magically assemble them overnight. Maybe she could call the fairies to help (because her own magic was still completely useless in most everyday situations, and Regina couldn't use hers since that would be too exhausting for her and the baby).

"I'm not, you're just incompetent."

Emma let out another ridiculous wailing noise.

"Don't you have to be nice to me now; with me being your loving girlfriend and all?"

"Would you really want us to be like your parents, Miss Swan?" the brunette teased, and, damn, it was hot when Regina called her "Miss Swan" now (okay, it had always been, kind of, especially paired with one of those head to toe once overs, which had left Emma wondering if Regina was planning to kill her, or bend her over the nearest desk).

"God, no. I mean, I love them, but… no."

In her head, she saw pictures of "I will always find you," and feeding each other ice cream. And no, thank you very much.

While, for sure, her parents' marriage was the prime example for a loving and stable true love relationship, it just wasn't her—and, especially, not her and _Regina_.

They were intense; forces of nature—like volcanoes, or earthquakes—and when they collided, they did with a bang, an explosion big enough to dash whole realms.

Up until now, they—luckily—hadn't had a real fight as a couple (not like they used to fight when they were still enemies, anyway) and, to be honest, Emma already dreaded the day it would happen, because she knew it had to sooner or later.

At the moment, they were probably still too much in the honeymoon phase of their relationship to remember that, before this, they'd basically fought each other any chance they'd gotten.

"That's what I thought."

The room was quiet for a while, before Emma gave up her futile attempts to ever get this crib pieced together properly, and just leaned her head against the brunette's thigh instead.

"Did you ever think this would happen?"

Regina put the magazine down and just looked at the other woman.

"You mean us falling for each other?"

A nod was the only answer the mayor got.

"At some point, I thought it would make sense on paper, I guess—something about going full circle—but then again, I was sure that, realistically, it would never actually happen."

Regina shrugged.

Truth to be told, the blonde had thought about that as well.

How much of them ending up as a couple was choice, and how much was pure fate? The Savior saving the Evil Queen. Snow White giving Regina her happy ending in form of her daughter, after she had been the one who had taken it away in the first place.

If this whole thing even lasted long enough to count as "happily ever after."

Not that she necessarily doubted that they could make it work long term, or that she wasn't serious about this relationship—quite the opposite, actually. However, even people who loved each other a lot didn't make it through, sometimes.

She trusted Regina, she trusted her with her life, but, also, she wouldn't blame her for choosing Robin in the unlikely case he somehow managed to get back to Storybrooke. All in all, Emma just wanted the brunette to be happy (which, at least for the foreseeable future, would hopefully be with her).

"But now it did," Emma concluded, just as she reached for Regina's hand to intertwine their fingers.

"Yes, now it did."

For a while, the blonde just stared at the other woman, before she said something.

"I love you."

Once again, the impact of that statement hit her.

It still felt a little weird to say it; like exposing yourself, making yourself vulnerable in ways that could very well destroy you at some point.

But she trusted Regina—most of the time more than she trusted herself, even—and she knew that the brunette wouldn't abuse that trust, wouldn't purposefully hurt her, because she was just as vulnerable here.

This was scary for both of them. Scary, because it was new, and big, and important. Scary, because it was beautiful, but it also had the potential to break them both to pieces. This was all or nothing, this was endgame. Hopefully.

Regina tugged on the blonde's hand to pull her up, before she kissed her.

Their kisses were still somewhat chaste, careful, and not at all the struggle for dominance Emma had always imagined them to be. They were still testing the waters, too afraid that, soon, the other shoe would drop.

"I love you too, Emma," Regina responded, her forehead pressing against the sheriff's, one hand carefully caressing the other woman's cheek, and Emma wondered what she had done to even remotely deserve this.

* * *

 

It was a few hours—and a tirade of hate, after Emma had hit her own thumb with a hammer—later, that they were standing side by side, admiring the finished baby's room.

The walls were painted a light green, Emma had gotten Henry's old toys out of the basement after Regina had instructed her where they were—it had only taken her about an hour to find the boxes, because, apparently, Regina had developed a serious problem with distinguishing left from right over the past weeks—and the crib, now properly assembled, stood where it was supposed to stand.

It looked perfect.

The only thing that, according to Regina, was still missing, was some decorations (which Emma thought was kind of ridiculous, because it wasn't like the baby would care, anyway, but whatever).

"So what are we going to put on the wall? Maybe a poster or something. I saw a Snow White one online a few days back," the sheriff teased, because it was still how they communicated; in quips, and banter, and whispered confessions in the dark, because they had both never been particularly good when it came to interacting with other human beings.

After all, deep down, they were still the abused daughter of a woman who wanted too much and the neglected orphan struggling to find her place in the world. They still had problems, both individually and together.

But, also, there were open confessions of love now.

They slipped from their lips seemingly effortlessly, right in between all the usual bantering and snarky comments.

"Don't you dare, Emma Swan," the older woman warned, but the sheriff knew that, if she really wanted to, the other woman would let her put it up anyway.

"So what do you propose?" the blonde asked, one arm sneaking around Regina's shoulders to pull her close.

"Our first family picture; you, me, Henry, and the little one."

Regina was wearing a radiant smile, while she absentmindedly rubbed a hand over her belly.

Emma, on the other hand, had to fight back tears, because this whole situation was just too much to handle; this unconventional makeshift family that they'd created without even planning to—two women, who used to hate each other, the son they shared, and a baby with a father no one wanted to ever really see again—but she wouldn't change it for the world.

This was her forever-family.

Regina, however, interpreted the blonde's initial silence as rejection.

"Not a good idea?" she asked, smile faltering, although she desperately tried—and failed—not to let her disappointment show.

"It's a great idea," Emma assured, and kissed Regina on the temple.


End file.
